World
 
|
Shell Argentina suspends sale of new, higher-priced diesel
AFP
Buenos Aires
Petroleumworld.com 09 29 06
Royal Dutch Shell's Argentine subsidiary on Wednesday provisionally
suspended the sale of a new line of diesel fuel products after the government
introduced stricter requirements on launching petroleum products, according to
a company statement issued late Wednesday.Shell Compania Argentina de Petroleo suspended the sale of Shell Diesel
and a Shell V-Power Diesel -- a higher-priced, lower-sulfur diesel fuel -- six
days after their launch.It had been marketing V-Power Diesel at 1.649 pesos (53 US cents) a
liter, 10% higher than the 1.499 pesos/liter for Pura Diesel, its next
highest-priced diesel fuel. The price of Shell Diesel was in line with other
prices.But the launch of V-Power Diesel prompted the government to introduce
new requirements on bringing products to market. On Wednesday, the Energy
Secretariat issued a resolution requiring oil companies to seek pre-approval
from the Department of Fuels for new products, a process that is expected to
take 10 days.The secretariat said the move would allow the Department of Fuels to
carry out adequate control of the quality and sale of fuels.Industry insiders said the move is part of the government's fight against
inflation. President Nestor Kirchner is trying to cut inflation to less than
10% this year from 12.3% in 2005 in an effort to keep the economy expanding at
an annual pace of 8-9% for a fourth year.Through different mechanisms, the government has kept a tight lid on
domestic fuel prices since 2003, keeping them at 40-50% less than in
neighboring markets.Shell said in the statement--and a quarter page advertisement in major
newspapers Thursday--that it has "initiated the pertinent steps to once again
offer the products in its service stations and in this way give back to the
consumer the possibility to choose."It added that it wants to offer consumers "a fuel that protects diesel
motors and the environment."The company said V-Power Diesel meets consumer demand for higher-quality
products and also future government requirements to cut sulfur content in
fuels. would be to improve margins, which have been tight since 2003 because
of the government controls on fuel prices.Oil companies complain that rising costs are narrowing margins because
they cannot raise prices to compensate. They also say the price controls are
discouraging investment to expand refining capacity, which is needed to keep
pace with surging demand for diesel fuel and other products. The country is
currently suffering a gasoil deficit because of dwindling output of light
crude, a main feedstock for the product, and limited refining capacity. This
has led refiners to step up imports of gasoil this year.For more news, request a free trial to Platts Oilgram News at
http://oilgramnews.platts.com or subscribe now at
http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=1_29&products_id=29
Platts 28 09 06
Copyright ©2006 Platts. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels