Energy expert Ramon Alburquerque alerted President Luis Abinader that while his government insists on subsidizing fuels, fuel station owners are making over RD$60 billion a year in profits. He said the gas station profit margins are excessive.
Alburquerque said that for each gallon of gasoline purchased, Dominicans pay RD$46 pesos to the petrol business middlemen. This is without counting the RD$71.85 that the government keeps for the concept of Hydrocarbons Law 112-00, and RD$25.1 for the ad-valorem due to Tax Reform Law 495-06. The Presidency recently announced it would not collect the RD$25.1 tax when the WTI barrel of petrol is at US$115 or more.
The Executive Branch submitted a bill to the Senate to amend the Hydrocarbons Law 112-00 on the first day of the new legislative session, on 28 February 2022.
Alburquerque proposes to lower the profit margins of the gasoline and diesel intermediaries by 25%. He said natural gas intermediaries have a profit margin of 20%. He said on the east coast of the United States and in Puerto Rico, the margins are 13 and 14%.
According to Alburquerque, the sale of fuels in the Dominican Republic amounts to 1,300 million gallons per year and profits of no less than RD$60 billion.
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El Nacional
9 March 2022