Gasoline and diesel prices remained stable in July, based on international benchmarks.
The government will set fuel prices in August.
Photo: MIEM
The government is preparing to decide what will happen with fuel prices during August in Uruguay, while waiting for the Energy and Water Services Regulatory Unit (Ursea) submit the report of Import Parity Price (IPP).
Based on international reference prices, especially those of the coast of Gulf of Mexicowhich have been on the rise in recent weeks, Executive power shall decide based on the report of the Ursea, which has not yet been presented, the value of fuel prices for August.
According to data published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), of which the last 27 days since the last measurement are taken into account, the values perceived a slight increase.
In this sense, the gasoline from the coast of Gulf of Mexico The price of diesel oil also experienced a monthly increase of 6.87%, going from $24.37 to $26.044, representing an increase of $1.67.
Meanwhile, the government is still waiting for the Ursea publish its monthly report, one of the inputs used by the Executive Branch to decide the price of fuel for the next month.
How is the price of fuel calculated?
The objective of this methodology, which has been applied since 2002 but underwent modifications in 2010 and 2017, is to make the costs of fuels (gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas or supergas, and propane) transparent to end consumers; especially considering that the import and production of petroleum derivatives in the country is less than National Administration of Fuels, Alcohol and Portland (Ancap)a state-owned enterprise.
In this way, and based on the PPI —in addition to other political and economic considerations—, the government establishes the Ancap Plant Price (PEP); that is, the value that, without taxes, consists of the net income that the company receives from its sales.
Meanwhile, the PPI considers different costs of services related to the import of fuels in Uruguay, to then set a reference price which may be adjusted according to other corporate financial needs or public policy objectives indicated by the Executive Branch.
The calculation is not limited to the short term – as it includes investment costs in addition to operating and maintenance costs – and attempts to reflect the activity of an importer and the efficiency costs that it would eventually have to assume to access products of similar quality to those required in the domestic market.
Source: Ambito
