Venezuelan minister repeats pledge to raise domestic fuel prices [View all]

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/05/venezuela-gasoline-idUSL2N0QB2S520140805

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela will raise gasoline prices, the country's oil minister told reporters on Tuesday, repeating a government promise to increase the world's lowest fuel prices for the first time in two decades.

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According to government figures, cheap fuel costs the gasoline subsidiary of state-run oil company PDVSA $12.5 billion in losses annually.

Efforts to raise the price of fuel in Venezuela, which has the highest inflation in the Americas, reaching 60.9 percent year-on-year in May, have been delayed several times.

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A full tank of 91 octane gas for a small vehicle costs about 38 cents in Venezuela, four times less than a medium-sized bottle of water.

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It costs PDVSA 28 times more to produce gasoline than its sales price. For diesel, the production costs are 50 times what consumers pay at the gas station.
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Thousands protested and hundreds were killed in clashes in the early 1990s when the government doubled gas prices and pushed public transport costs up 30 percent.


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I believe they are looking to raise gas prices about 700%