Ecuador: Regulators probing State oil company over competition violations

Pedro Paez, head of Ecuador’s competition regulator SCPM announced that the agency has carried out a month-long probe into state oil company Petroecuador, seeking to determine whether the company has engaged in unfair competitive practices against its competitors.

“We are analysing whether Petroecuador has inadequately used its subsidy benefits. It would be a serious matter if they were using these subsidies to tip the scales and distort the competitive process” said Paez.

The Superintendent detailed that the probe has gathered information from 15 distributors, four service stations and from the Hydrocarbons Control and Regulation Agency (ARCH), the Hydrocarbons Ministry and from Petroecuador itself. Whether a formal investigation is launched will now depend on the results of these preliminary findings.

Source: Telegrafo

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