Fuels and gas: Argentina has the lowest prices in the region

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Despite the recent 9% increase in fuel prices in Argentina – after an eight-month freeze – Argentine gas station prices are among the lowest in the region.

Super gasoline is between 26 and 43% cheaper than in Chile, Brazil, and Paraguay, and regular gasoline is between 15 and 34% cheaper. Diesel costs 15% less than in Brazil and 27% less than in Uruguay. For CNG gas, the differences are even more remarkable: 52% less than in Brazil and 44% less than in Chile.

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The data come from a report prepared by the Institute of Economic Studies of the Córdoba Stock Exchange regarding the official dollar. The document highlights that the difference is not explained by a comparative advantage of Argentina in terms of energy efficiency or technological productivity of the sector, but by the “backwardness” of prices accumulated in the last two years, due to the “strong distortions in relative prices caused by the economic policies of the national government.”

The price of bottled gas is one of the lowest in the region, along with Bolivia and Ecuador, countries that have “highly subsidized” the price of bottled gas. But, Cegla said, it is also “lower than the equivalent paid for other types of energy [in the country].

When comparing how much a cylinder of gas should cost relative to the same consumption of other energy sources, the results for butane and propane are very favorable, even compared to natural gas in the AMBA and the rest of Buenos Aires. The same is true for firewood, which currently exceeds the cost of bottled gas.

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