Energas calls on oil companies and distributors to negotiate the price of gas

The effects of the devaluation on the impact of tariffs, which began to be rediscovered in gas supply contracts between oil companies and distributors in May and June informally, were yesterday regularized the call of the regulator (Enargas) the two parties to renegotiate the values ​​and adjust them to the new dollar prices. The government is looking to stop the price of gas at the wellhead around US $ 4.50 to stop rising prices in a difficult year for the local economy.

In this way, Metrogas, Camuzzi, EcoGas, Gas Ban and the nine other gas distributors are expected to begin a debate with the new Minister of Energy, Javier Iguacel, who has already shown support for change of the agreement that the former minister Juan José Aranguren would have signed on November 30th. oil and gas. In this context – where the reference index of Brent oil is close to 70 dollars, nearly ten dollars less than that of Aranguren – that is what Iguacel wants to change and for this gas the price of gas at the wellhead it had to increase from US $ 5.19 per million BTU in October and climb to $ 6 in the same month of 2019. The goal of Iguacel for the price of gas is to keep it around $ 4.50, for which the gas rises forecast for October would be well below those forecast by Aranguren.

For this, Iguacel plans to relax trading between distributors and oil companies, where without state intermediation, prices could stabilize closer to 4 million US dollars, the main reason for which energy in Argentina is one of the most expensive in the region. Strictly speaking, the specialists point out, most tariffs are explained in the price increase of the PIST (value of gas production at the wellhead), through which it has pbaded a value initial $ 1.2 million BTU in 2015 to $ 4.68 in early 2018. In this reality is that Iguacel completely abandoned a rise in the BTU to $ 6.80 in 2019 – as he drove Aranguren – so in dollars the # The increase in gas would have exceeded 400% in dollars. Very much above what is paid in the United States, where it is imported at $ 2.4 million per million BTUs.