MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile prepares for surge in gasoline prices

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos announced Sunday a package of measures to soften the impact of the surging price of gasoline which has been forecasted to reach the equivalent of almost 1,40 US dollar per litre in the near future.

In a national television address President Lagos said that interests generated by the Copper Stabilization Fund, (estimated in several hundreds of million US dollars) will be diverted to help soften future crude increases, anticipated by Chilean authorities because of the devastating effects of hurricane Katrina which destroyed several United States refineries in the Gulf of Mexico area.

"The Fund's resources will be effective until June 30 next year, when the new elected authorities will then decide whether to extend the facilities or not", emphasized the Chilean president.

Chile imports almost 90% of the fuel it consumes and this year's political calendar includes presidential and congressional elections next December. The country is also benefiting from record prices of copper, the main export commodity, and has abundant financial resources generated by overseas sales.

Mr. Lagos also announced that the Chilean government owned oil company ENAP will be refining all the oil in stock and new purchases since the ballooning price of gasoline "is not linked to the international price of crude, but rather the effects of a world shortage of refining capacity".

A special task force headed by Finance Minister Nicolas Eyzaguirre and ENAP CEO Enrique Davila will be responsible for the implementation of the package, added the president who assured Chileans that the "price of gasoline during the coming September national independence celebrations will not reach the value anticipated".