Other fuel types

The category Other fuel types that are regulated includes LPG and bitumen.
LPG is used as cooking gas for households and as generic fuel for companies for their business operations.

LPG

Regulated LPG is available in standard bottles of 100 and 20lbs. The product is produced by PDVSA and delivered to Curoil. The latter, through Curgas, provides for the gas bottles to be filled and for the distribution to the gas station holders for the households (20lbs) and the distribution directly to the households (100 lbs).

With a view to the over-arching policy objectives aimed at affordability, availability and sustainability of fuels, the policy regarding regulated LPG is aimed at:

• Determining a minimum stock of regulated LPG to maintain by Curoil to warrant delivery; Curoil has even expanded its storage tanks to enable 2 weeks warranted delivery to end users
• Determining guaranteed delivery terms in the interest of the end user
• Determining regulated prices for households
• Supervision on abuse of power for bulk delivery to companies

Bitumen

Bitumen, along with sand and chippings, is a basic resource for asphalt. The product is produced by PDVSA from crude oil and delivered to Curoil, mainly for the asphalt production plant, ‘Asfalt Centrale Curaçao’ (ACC), which uses it for the production of asphalt concrete. This specifically concerns bitumen 40/50, a standardized version with a low degree of penetration in accordance with international standards.

In principle bitumen is available for everyone against payment through Curoil, where the product is paid for and after which it can be collected at PDVSA.

With a view to the over-arching policy objectives aimed at affordability, availability and sustainability of fuels, the policy regarding bitumen is aimed at:

• Determining regulated prices for the delivery by PDVSA through Curoil
• Supervision on quality

Prices LPG

The prices for LPG are determined on the basis of the Guideline tariff regulation fuels.
The basic activities of the guideline are:

• Applying monthly price adjustments according to a laid down calculation model that is filled in on the basis of data supplied by Curoil. It should be noted that the Council of Ministers has determined fixed prices for LPG 100 and LPG 20, with a view to the stability of LPG prices, which in principle remain unchanged regardless of the price fluctuations in the market
• Determining a surplus/deficit on a quarterly basis
• To adapt the cross subsidy from time to time depending on the price developments

Prices bitumen

The prices for bitumen for local use are under strict regulation because of the small scale of the market and the strong need of the community for asphalt.

For bitumen 40/50 there is a separate Guideline tariff regulation bitumen 40/50 in place. The mechanism to determine the price is effected in accordance with the same tariff structure as for other regulated fuels, with the significant difference that the price for bitumen 40/50 is reviewed once per year as opposed to once a month. This is in relation with the desired stability of the price for asphalt concrete.