Preguntas Frecuentes

Frequent questions and repliesRefining and Logistics

How many oil refineries are there in Chile and how much do they produce?

There are three refineries in Chile which are operated by ENAP: Enap Refinerías, Aconcagua, located in Concón, Fifth Region; Enap Refinerías, Bío Bío, located in the district of Hualpén in the Eighth Region; and the Gregorio refinery located in the town of San Gregorio in the Magallanes Region. These three refineries have a capacity for processing 230,000 barrels of oil a day and together produce around 13 million cubic meters a year, representing 85% of the demand for fuels in the Chilean market.

What are the octane ratings and what is the difference between fuels with high or low octane ratings?

The octane, or more correctly the octane rating, is a gasoline quality indicator for internal combustion engines, whether for land vehicles or for conventional propulsion aircraft and helicopters (without turbines). Simply speaking, the performance of a gasoline is numbered by the refinery laboratory in octane ratings (in Chile, these are 93, 95 and 97), which measure the resistance to explosion and self-starting, density and yield.

Gasoline is colorless in its natural state so the color that it might have, i.e. green, red or yellow, is obtained through the addition of an artificial coloring that facilitates its individualization and identification, and control over its possible adulteration.

In conclusion, every gasoline is formulated for its use in different conditions which are normally dictated by engine functioning requirements and a manufacturer’s specifications for regulating their compression, yield and power.

Why is gasoline more expensive at a service station in Talcahuano, which is close to the Bío Bío refinery, while the same gasoline is cheaper in Santiago?

There is freedom for setting fuel prices in Chile which means that every distributor can charge what they want to consumers. This occurs at both the retail and wholesale levels. There is also freedom to import fuels so ENAP also has to be competitive with its products. It is this freedom that explains the prices policy based on the import parity.

In fact, wholesale distributors may choose to buy from ENAP or import fuels directly, from the markets where it is most attractive.

The only restriction applied in Chile on trading fuels relates to quality standards.

So, if a retail distributor sells gasoline more expensively at a service station in Hualpén, right in front of the Bío Bío refinery where it is produced, and that same gasoline is sold cheaper at a service station at Quinta Normal, this is a problem of competition.

It is probable that the distributor in Quinta Normal is forced to sell cheaper because it has competitors offering lower prices nearby, and because its sales volumes are greater. Otherwise, if the Hualpén distributor’s volumes are lower, it has to increase its margin and thus the consumer price is higher.