According to the specialized media Surtidores, the average international price in the month of January (taking into account until the 31st) was $82.5while for February 15, although there are still 13 days to go before the average for the entire month, the price per barrel of crude oil was 82.61, just 10 cents above the previous month’s value. This predicts that there will be no major shocks in the market and, consequently, no large increases in the price of fuel.
However, for the beginning of the second half of this year, the price of a barrel of crude oil is expected to rise by up to 100 dollars. This already happened in mid-2022 when the rise in the price of oil caused the price of a gallon to rise in the Gulf of Mexico and, consequently, generated an increase in the Super Naphtha which reached 2 dollars, that is, 80.88 Uruguayan pesos.
On the other hand, it is necessary to take into account the maintenance and repair tasks that Ancap will carry out in the La Teja refinery in September and that will also affect the economic performance of the company.
The National Administration of Fuels, Alcohol and Portland will lose 72 million dollars in September and December of this year for not being able to produce, due to the repairs and remodeling that the refinery will undergo, which will imply the total shutdown of the plant.
Due to this, the company must import the fuel, through tenders, in order to maintain the amount that the company always has. One of the main companies, and also one of the largest in the world that handles more than 6 million barrels of fuel per day, is trafigura which has previously sold barrels of fuel to the state company at a convenient price.
Source: Ambito
