Bottles of Repsol and Cepsa butano gas are not being delivered today, Wednesday, due to a strike by distributors.
The protest is mainly against Repsol decision not to review the contracts it has with the distributors of the gas bottles, although it is also in some part a protest against the government.
The Fed GLP (Spanish Federation of Provincial and Distributors of Liquid Petroleum Gas), which brings together most of the companies that distribute Repsol Butano, stressed that the protest is for the decision not to review oil contracts and also against the government.
The Fed GLP say that the situation is borderline and want a “fair return without abuse from the oil companies” and “price regulation by the Administration that does not force them to sell below cost.”
To achieve this, the industry wants the Government to amend the formula used to calculate the price of the gas bottles as it does not reflect the real costs of the product.
Repsol Butano appear to agree, deciding not to review the contracts with the distributors until the government changes the formula and recognizes the real cost of the bottle.
It is argued that the industry has spent years selling the bottles at a loss, around €400 million in the last 10 years, and a change is needed in the mechanisms used by the Ministry of Industry to fix the price of the bottle, which remains regulated.
The strike will also affect Cepsa dealers grouped in the National Association of Gas Distributors (Andigas), although 85% of the butane market is held by Repsol.
In Spain, there are about 12 million consumers of butane, with the price reviewed quarterly by the Ministry of Industry based upon a formula that reflects the international prices of propane and butane. At the last review in April, the price of a bottle of butane rose 6% to 14 euros.
The part that affects marketing costs changes only once a year in July.