The Strategist

Ecuador allows private companies to import petroleum products



09/28/2020 - 05:00



The President of Ecuador has authorized the import of petroleum products into the country by private companies for the needs of industry. The former state monopoly Petroecuador will continue to serve the automotive sector and supply gas for domestic use.



Yamil Salinas Martínez
Yamil Salinas Martínez
“On September 24, the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, signed Decree No. 1158, which establishes a mechanism to allow the import of petroleum products by the private sector with the aim of gradually accepting import costs, thus, the country in the future will have fuel that meets the Technical Standard emissions of Euro-5 and IMO-2020”, - says the communiqué on the website of the country's Ministry of Energy.

Free import rules apply to industrial gas, gasoline, natural gas, diesel, jet fuel, jet fuel, absorbents and other petroleum derivatives targeting nine sectors of the economy, including industry, trade, shipping and aviation.

Within a month, the Agency for Regulation and Control in the field of energy should determine the participants in the commercialization chain and issue appropriate decrees, these entities will determine the selling prices in a competitive market.

The new regulation will not affect the sale of fuel for the automotive sector or gas for domestic use, which will continue to be handled by the state-owned Petroecuador. Energy Minister Rene Ortiz confirmed that the prices of LPG for domestic, agricultural or automotive use are frozen.

source: reuters.com