The Energy Secretariat published the new rate chart for users of grid natural gas in Argentina, with an average increase of 320%. The novelty is that the values of the Entry Point to the Gas Transmission System (PIST) will be dollarized.
This means that the monthly bill that each user will receive will include a conversion into Argentinian pesos that will depend on the official exchange rate.
The decision was published on Argentina’s Boletín Oficial (Official State Gazette) as Resolution 41/2024, and it details the increases to be applied in three phases: the first one in April, the second in the May-September period and the third in the October-December quarter, due to the seasonal nature of the use of gas.
In this occasion, the novelty if the use of values in US dollars, which will be converted monthly into Argentinian pesos according to the exchange rate of Banco de la Nación Argentina.
The increase in dollars will be, in average, of 174% in April and of 53,3% in May-September, with an additive adjustment of 320%, which in pesos could be the same, lower or higher, depending on the variation of the exchange rate.
The Energy Secretariat justified the increases on the need to cut subsidies, which “caused the National State to spend -without including Enarsa- 212,202,000,000 pesos”, according to the resolution’s recitals, although they don’t specify to which period that sum refers to.
“The policy of maintaining a generalized program of subsidies which increased over time, implemented through National Treasury contributions, is incompatible with the financial situation of the public coffers. The National State is incapable of continuing to contribute with generalized subsidies, like previous administrations did”, it read.
Regarding the dollarization of the price, the resolution states that “to avoid big leaps in the variation of the exchange rate, it is recommended that Enargas (National Gas Regulatory Agency) calculates the conversion to dollars by one million BTUs, using a 27,10473 factor” and that the conversion of the exchange rate “is calculated monthly, as a way to avoid abrupt changes in the prices”.