Government calls liquefied gas companies to lower prices
The objective of the authority would be to achieve in the future a reduction in the cylinders segment. In the industry say values follow the international market.
Achieving a reduction in the prices that users paid for gas is one of the objectives that the government expressed in the Agenda of Energy.
First came the natural gas, but now the government is aiming to achieve a reduction in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), so that the Ministry of Energy already asked the companies that distribute the fuel in cylinders and bulk, to provide information about the structure of this market and prices.
This request would have generated concern among distributor companies: Lipigas, linked Yaconi-Santa Cruz group and Andronico Luksic; Abastible owned by the Angelini group; Gasco controlled by CGE, whose main shareholders are the Marin, Hornahuer and Pérez-Cruz families.
Privately
The Minister of Energy, Maximo Pacheco, had taken advantage of a meeting held with the LPG Association, which brings together these three companies, to privately raise the request for industry to lower the price of gas in cylinders.
This fuel is key to the provision of socio-economic lower income segments, which are currently not covered by networks of natural gas or other sectors of medium level, counting on supply choose to control their consumption through the cylinder, as happen to the prepaid telephony.
According to the National Energy Commission (CNE), now in the Metropolitan Region a LPG cylinder 45 kilos, equivalent to the monthly consumption of a family of four, worth on average $ 47,200, compared to $ 37,022 which cost 58 m3 of natural gas, a volume that is similar to the use of GLP noted.
The CNE confirmed that they requested information on the market for non-concession to LPG distributors, which are present in real estate and buildings, under the workbench with natural gas companies networks.-
“We are still at an early stage of work. We talked mostly about conversion rates of natural gas and LPG customers, as well as the necessary mechanisms for any operator to use ponds installed in buildings or condos, “said the Commission.
They also said that “for now” the market of the cylinders is not evaluated.
“One purpose of these workshops is to ensure that the requirements necessary to meet competition get together and to stay fair prices for consumers”, said the authority.
International Prices
In the LPG industry estimate that there would be arguments to justify a mandatory price reduction or regulation in this regard.
The liquefied gas is a petroleum product and its value varies with the level of oil in a relevant market, which in the case of Chile, as with fuel, is the Gulf of Mexico, in USA.
Knowledgeable on the subject explains that between 30% and 35% of LPG sold in Chile comes from Argentina, where the price would be 50% lower than market parity.
In industry ensure that they operate with low margins, especially at the distribution of cylinders level, so forced down prices would affect them.
The authority would also be following closely the role of Gasmar, linked to Gasco, Abastible and Von Appen group, as an intermediary buys gas on the international market and sells it to local actors.
The domestic consumption of LPG is around 1.15 million tons per year. Lipigas leads the market, followed by Abastible and Gasco.
Source: Diario Financiero
