Bolivia Business Lobby Floats World Petrol Price Monday
ENERGY · BOLIVIA
Key Facts
- —The country Bolivia, a landlocked Andean nation of about 11.3 million people (2024 census), removed its diesel subsidy in September but still caps petrol at Bs 6.96 a litre (about US$0.58).
- —Why it matters The Bolivia petrol subsidy is still in place after diesel was freed. Its cost is paid in scarce dollars, and any change would hit fares, food prices and protests.
- —Why now Petrol queues have persisted for days in several cities despite extra deliveries from state oil firm YPFB.
- —What happened On Monday 5 October the Chuquisaca business chamber, Cainco Chuquisaca, proposed weighing world prices for petrol, El Deber reported. It is a proposal, not government policy.
- —The numbers Privately imported petrol sells for about Bs 18 a litre (about US$1.50) in Santa Cruz, roughly 2.6 times the subsidised price, El Deber reported on 3 October.
- —What it means for you Travellers should expect fuel waits in Sucre, Santa Cruz, Tarija and La Paz. Firms trading with Bolivia face slower deliveries.
- —Still open The government has not responded to the proposal. YPFB has not said how much petrol each city needs or receives.
A business chamber in Bolivia has proposed selling petrol at world prices to end the long queues at service stations. The idea, from Cainco Chuquisaca in the city of Sucre, puts the Bolivia petrol subsidy back at the centre of the country’s fuel crisis. For foreign readers, it matters because that subsidy drains the dollars Bolivia needs to pay for fuel imports and to stabilise its currency.
The proposal is not government policy. The state still sells regular petrol at Bs 6.96 a litre (about US$0.58 at the central bank’s official rate of Bs 11.97 per dollar on 6 October). Officials say the price will not change this year.
The longer term is different. Deputy treasury minister Óscar Navarro said on 30 September the government hopes the 2027 budget carries no petrol or diesel subsidy, Radio Fides reported. The budget bill is due in Congress by 31 October.
The chamber spoke on Monday 5 October, as queues continued in several cities, the story we followed in Bolivia Fuel Queues Persist Monday Despite Extra Supply.
What the Business Chamber Proposed
Cainco Chuquisaca is the Chamber of Industry, Commerce, Services and Tourism of Chuquisaca, the department around Sucre. It represents local employers.
According to El Deber, the chamber asked the authorities to evaluate selling petrol at international prices. Its argument is that the gap between the domestic and the world price rewards speculation, resale and smuggling.
The chamber pointed to diesel. After the subsidy on diesel was removed in September, it said, the long diesel queues disappeared. In its view, that suggests part of the earlier demand was not regular consumption.
“Not even in the worst times, when we had no petrol, were the queues as long as the ones we have now,” Omar Orellana, the chamber’s manager, told El Deber. “These are working hours that are lost,” he added, noting that industry runs on petrol vans as well as diesel lorries.
In a separate statement the same day, reported by Correo del Sur, the chamber demanded “verifiable technical information” from YPFB and the hydrocarbons regulator, the ANH. It asked how much petrol Sucre needs each day, how much is scheduled, and how much actually reaches drivers. That report does not mention the world-price idea.
Controls Find Suspicious Loads
The debate comes as inspectors look for hoarding. On Sunday 4 October, an operation at Sucre stations found about 20 vehicles with suspicious loads, El Deber reported.
Lenny Calderón, who heads Chuquisaca’s group of national lawmakers, said several of those cars run on natural gas yet bought petrol often. They were removed from the queues and their plates were blocked.
Nationally, YPFB said on Sunday it had increased petrol and diesel distribution in all nine departments, the state news agency ABI reported. Together with the ANH, it is blocking the plates of vehicles that fill up repeatedly.
In Potosí, YPFB said it began dispatching 180,000 litres of petrol on Sunday afternoon, 20,000 litres to each of nine stations. It promised “continuous supply” for the coming days and asked drivers to buy only what they need.
Claims of Resale Remain Unproven
In Santa Cruz, Agustín Zambrana, vice president of the regional civic committee, alleged that 30% to 40% of petrol is diverted. He said a litre bought at Bs 6.96 (about US$0.58) is resold for Bs 10 to Bs 50 (about US$0.84 to US$4.18).
El Deber noted that no official data backs that share. It cannot be shown that four in ten litres end up smuggled or resold.
Unsubsidised petrol is already on sale. Private firms such as BioPetrol began selling imported petrol in Santa Cruz in September at about Bs 18 a litre (about US$1.50), as covered in Santa Cruz Fuel Shortage Returns in Bolivia.
Not everyone welcomes a price rise. Marcelo Torres, head of Chuquisaca’s departmental workers’ federation, suggested the queues could be a strategy to remove the subsidy, the ANV agency reported. He warned that ending it now would hit every citizen. Unions and neighbourhood groups have called a public assembly in Sucre for Thursday 8 October.
The short-term line has not moved. Ronaldo Roque, who runs YPFB’s stations in Tarija, blamed part of the rush on rumours of a price rise. “The price is the same, it is not going to change,” he told El Deber.
What It Means for You
Visitors driving in Bolivia should fill up when they can and allow time for queues, especially in Sucre, Santa Cruz and Tarija. Buses and taxis may run less often where drivers wait for fuel.
For investors and firms trading with Bolivia, the issue is dollars. Bolivia buys much of its fuel abroad, so every subsidised litre costs foreign currency.
A move to world prices would ease that drain but push up transport and food costs. The diesel change in September already brought strikes and fare disputes, so any petrol decision would likely meet protests too. YPFB expects supply to normalise this week.
What Is Not Known
We do not know whether the government will consider the chamber’s proposal. We found no public reply from the government by Tuesday morning. Only El Deber has reported the world-price proposal, and we could not confirm it independently.
YPFB has not published how much petrol each city needs, receives or sells. That leaves the cause of the queues open: short supply, slow distribution, hoarding or resale. The 30% to 40% diversion figure from Santa Cruz is not independently confirmed.
What did Cainco Chuquisaca propose?
The business chamber in Sucre asked the authorities to evaluate selling petrol at international prices, arguing the price gap feeds resale and smuggling. It is a proposal, not a government decision.
How much does petrol cost in Bolivia?
Subsidised regular petrol costs Bs 6.96 a litre (about US$0.58). Privately imported petrol has sold for about Bs 18 a litre (about US$1.50) in Santa Cruz since September.
Is the government ending the Bolivia petrol subsidy?
Not this year. YPFB officials say the price will not change, and the state is adding supply and blocking plates of repeat buyers. The government hopes to drop the subsidy from the 2027 budget.
Sources: Banco Central de Bolivia (official exchange rate) · Radio Fides (2027 budget) · El Deber (Cainco proposal) · Correo del Sur · ABI (YPFB distribution) · ABI (Potosí) · El Deber (queues, Tarija) · El Deber (imported petrol) · ANV
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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