A Starting in July, Petroecuador could sell gasoline with a higher octane rating than extra and lower than super, based on a higher ethanol composition. It is a third way or option and the price would not be frozen, but liberalized, but it would be lower than that of the supermarket. This was commented by the manager of Petroecuador, Ítalo Cedeño, in an interview with radio Municipal.
The new one gasoline would be 89 octane. In addition to this, a super 95 octane gasoline could also be offered at the same price as the super.
These are the options that Petroecuador handles in the face of the pressure that exists in the market due to the significant increase in the price of the super ($ 4.66 per gallon), tied to the high prices of crude oil at the international level.
Cedeno He also explained that they have reached an agreement with alcohol users to supply them with more product (ethanol). To do this, they will have to make investments, but they will have a profitable market. If you don’t have enough product, you could import it, he said.
About the topic, Darío Dávalos, an oil policy analyst, commented that the announced measure is positive, especially if one considers the important migration that has taken place from super to extra gasoline, for price reasons. He considered that the greater subsidy that the ecocountry represents compared to the extra currently does not depend on the use of ethanol, but on the percentages that Petroecuador uses to mix said gasoline, sometimes with a higher percentage of high-octane gasoline.
He added that It would be convenient to share the issue with the marketers, because for them it would also mean making a greater investment, because most have two pumps for gasoline and not three. It is not clear, he said, whether the super as such or the 85-octane eco-country will continue to exist.
Finally, he warned that the possibility of importing ethanol is risky, since he explained that the national industry could be affected. The problem is that currently ethanol from the United States, which comes from corn, not from sugarcane as in Ecuador, has various subsidies that make it very difficult for the domestic product to compete with the imported product.
Meanwhile, Oswaldo Erazo, executive director of the Chamber of Petroleum Derivatives Distributors (Camddepe), received Petroecuador’s announcement with skepticism.
He considered that Petroecuador has had several attempts to improve fuels and has not achieved it efficiently. In any case, regarding the operation of distributors, he said that most do not have the infrastructure to sell three types of gasoline, but only two. If improved gasoline were to be implemented, they would possibly have to choose which one to stop selling, he explained.. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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