In interviews published in the news daily El Siglo, managers of the Dominican subsidiaries of Texaco and Exxon called on the government and the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (REFIDOMSA) to establish true transparency in the prices they pay for imported petroleum and petroleum derivatives. Texaco Caribbean General Manager Angel Rivera and Esso Sales Manager Jaime Mart? concurred that the current system is very opaque and these two companies have no idea how REFIDOMSA arrives at the prices it sets for petroleum derivatives it produces for local distribution. The lack of transparency makes it difficult for Esso and Texaco to initiate price competition, since it has no idea of what sort of margins REFIDOMSA and the government’s partner in the refinery, Shell, are working with. The lack of price competition hurts the consumer. It also has led Texaco and Esso to halt plans to build a storage facility in Puerto Plata until they can determine, on the basis of realistic market figures, whether the project would bring sufficient return on the investment.
