19 June 2007
SANTO DOMINGO. – the Chamber of Deputies’ Energy and Mines Commission president Pelegrín Castillo said Shell’s “big business” has been not to abide by the contract with the Dominican State to form the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa).
The deputy said the violation has meant fabulous profits for the foreign oil company.
In a statement to the newspaper Listin Diario, Castillo said Shell was forced to expand its refinement capacity as the national demand increased, though the multinational never did so as it was much more profitable to import finished products.
“Shell had to increase its refinement capacity with technology that allowed the processing of heavy crude, as well as to facilitate the integration of the other distributing companies to the capital corresponding to the refinery’s shares; but weakness of governments, which have accommodated to the profits that the State obtains as partner, have frustrated the accomplishment of that national interest,” he said.
Reform
The legislator said the experience has been very expensive in national terms and asks the Government not to limit itself to probe the scandal after the recently denounced irregularities and also bring about a wide reform of the fuels market. “There is an urgency to expand the refinement capacity, authorizing the installation of new refineries that process heavy crude for export and the local market, as well as an expansion of the already existing one with a new composition of its capital corresponding to stock and mainly better controls of its external operations.”
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