Determining premium diesel quotas for gas stations creates problems again. At the Terpel gas station in the city of Guayaquil, which is located in Argentina between Chile and Chimborazo, there was no diesel this Thursday, September 21, as a sign posted at one of the station’s entrances warned drivers: “No diesel, due to the availability of hydrocarbons , the quotas have been reduced.”

Last July, when the system of monthly quotas started, the shortage of diesel already happened in Manabi, and in August it happened in Ambat. One of the reasons given by representatives of the gas station sector was the application of quotas established by the Agency for the Regulation and Supervision of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources (ARCERNNR) to prevent improper and improper use of this fuel. In September, this quota system was extended to 166 stations, completing the 455 gas stations across the country with the limit.

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The administrator of the Terpel station where there was no diesel, Jhonny Arias, confirmed that the situation has been repeating itself for two and three months. “The government says that there is a diversion of fuel to shrimp farms, since the subsidy has stopped, so it is being diverted to shrimp farms and big companies.

Given this situation, Arias said that there are almost 500 gas stations across the country that have implemented quotas. “They reduced my quota by almost 50,000 gallons and it really affects me because between 160,000 and 170,000 gallons are sold here per month,” he stated.

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However, Jordy Ávila, administrator of the Petróleos y Servicios station located in Quito and Brazil, in the center of Guayaquil, indicated that they had no supply problems at the moment because they had not suffered a reduction in quotas “as is”. “We had other gas stations, we stay with the same quota as always, which is a thousand gallons a day.”

In this regard, the president of the National Chamber of Distributors of Petroleum Products of Ecuador, Ivo Rosero, stated that as at the end of last August, when there were shortages in Oriente and Ambat, the same problems are appearing now. “Today, September 21, it is already starting to be felt and will continue to worsen until the end of the month,” the leader emphasized.