Argentina's government accused energy companies Royal Dutch Shell and Petrobras on Wednesday of deliberately causing gasoline shortages in order to force rival YPF to raise its prices.
Planning Minister Julio De Vido said the government would take steps to ensure the country's oil refineries were working at full capacity and threatened to limit companies' fuel exports if the shortages continued.
"Shell and Petrobras are disrupting the refining of oil to create a shortage in the domestic market and force YPF to increase its prices," De Vido said in a statement.
The government's inflation watchdog, Domestic Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno, will also send inspectors to monitor supplies at the country's service stations, where rationing has been imposed in recent weeks.
The measures come a day after YPF, the local unit of Spanish oil major Repsol, said it was importing 50 million liters of gasoline, or 315,000 barrels, from the United States following heavy demand that depleted its stocks and caused shortages at service stations.
YPF, which sells gasoline at slightly cheaper prices, also accused its competitors of putting less of the fuel on sale as a way to force it raise its prices.
YPF, which used to be a government oil company, had a 57.3 percent share of the country's gasoline market in January and sales volume surged last year to a record.
The company's size means it has lower operating costs than its rivals, allowing it to sell gasoline at a slightly lower price. It also relies entirely on its own oil, refining and transport operations in fuel production.
Esso, the Argentine unit of Exxon Mobil, has denied YPF's accusations. Petrobras said on Tuesday it had not experienced gasoline shortages at its service stations and that its refineries were operating normally.
No one at Shell could immediately be reached for comment.
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