Some gas stations in Guayaquil did not have ecopaís for several hours, on the night of September 12, according to some drivers who, not finding fuel at several gas stations, decided instead to buy ecoplús 89. Meanwhile, some gas station administrators assured that, although are supplied, they have problems with delays with the tankers that transport fuel to the stations.

The customers’ discomfort is due to the difference in the price they had to pay. The current reference price for ecoplús 89 gasoline is $3.48 per gallon, 9 cents higher than last month ($3.39). These values ​​are valid from September 12 to October 11. On the other hand, the price of eco-country is $2.40. This value, as well as extra ($2.40) and diesel ($1.75) are frozen.

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As for the delay, the leaders of the fuel distribution sector indicated that distribution is proceeding normally in the province of Guayas and nationally, although they acknowledged that there is “secrecy on the part of the authorities”, while the outlook may vary in stations that have the imposition of premium diesel quotas , they mentioned.

Meanwhile, in some stations it was confirmed that there were these inconveniences, although they assured that they were supplied.

“We didn’t have major problems with the supply, but we had delays with the arrival of tankers, due to the number of vehicles loading fuel to take to the central-southern area, because in El Triunfo there is no fuel supply for that sector, so they come here to refuel and it obviously increases the number of hours we have to wait for the product, but we have had no shortages,” said Jordy Ávila, station administrator of Petróleos y Servicios. located in Quito and Brazil, the southern center of Guayaquil.

These delays come after gas stations in the province of Azuay and the Amazon region showed shortages in late August due to delays in importing fuel production inputs due to climate problems presented in the Panama Canal. .

In this regard, the president of the National Chamber of Distributors of Petroleum Products of Ecuador (Camddepe), Ivo Rosero, indicated that the distribution of fuel in Cuenca is “normalized”, but that they know that there have been some types of “inconvenience”. ” ”, on the bypass, in La Troncal, and that this situation could be related to the problem in Guayas. “This is the information we have, there was no official statement, because it is a complete secret,” said Rosero.

Leaders announce problem with quotas for premium diesel

For his part, the president of the Guayas Fuel Distributors Association, Leonardo Alvarado, said the country is “supplied” with fuel, but he agreed with other leaders on the problem they have with the quota system in the case of premium diesel.

“Here in Guayaquil, I don’t know that there was a shortage (of fuel). There are some gas stations that keep us with quotas, which, by the way, are completely arbitrary, which at the level of our leadership has already been duly objected to Petroecuador, the Agency for Regulation and Control of Energy and Non-Renewable Energy Sources. Natural resources (Arcernnr) and the same Ministry (Energy and Mining), but unfortunately they continue to maintain it,” he complained.

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Alvarado explained that if a gas station’s quota was reduced and they were not returned, there would come a certain moment or hour of the day when it could run out of gas, mostly at those stations that are far from the service. Petroecuador distribution. Supplying these with fuel takes longer and if they run out of fuel, say, at 7 p.m., they won’t have fuel until the next day, he repeated.

He also questioned the fact that the quota was imposed on gas stations “with the argument that there is a diversion of fuel towards shrimp farms”, however, it is striking that they have quotas, “gas stations that are in the center of a country where there are no shrimp farms.”

Gas stations will present a protection action for the quotas allocated to them for the sale of diesel

The same question was argued by Rosero, who added that the quota system already showed a shortage of diesel in Ambat at the end of August, and believes that between the 20th and 25th of this month, a shortage will be generated, among other things, because in August the September quota was increased to 166 gas stations.

“The pumps that received advance quotas for September will no longer disappear on the 25th, as happened in August, but earlier, which is why we estimate that by September 20th, there will probably be a shortage of fuel at several stations.” , he assured.

In a statement published on September 12, Petroecuador assured that it “guarantees the supply of the entire country extra i ecopaís with gasoline at a frozen price of $2.40 per gallon. In the case of premium diesel it is $1.75 per gallon.”

Meanwhile, Rosero indicated that on Monday Camddepe presented a protective action with precautionary measures against Arcernnar, the Ministry of Energy and Mining and Petroecuador, so that the quota system is suspended. Additionally, several distributors have also done so independently. “I understand that a favorable sentence will come out of that first protection action,” he said.