PAE CEO wants to invest in biofuels and export if law changes

Marcos Bulgheroni, CEO of Pan American Energy (PAE), has expressed a strong desire for the company to invest in biofuels and expand into export markets, contingent on legislative changes that would allow refiners to participate directly in the sector. Currently, Argentine law prohibits refiners from producing biofuels, restricting them to purchasing biodiesel and ethanol from specialized manufacturers.

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Particularly in Pan American Energy, we are convinced that what will make the biodiesel industry, or biofuels in a broader sense, function is that we enlarge the pie. That we can generate proposals and products that are exportable to the world. And there Argentina has a huge opportunity due to its competitiveness, particularly from the agricultural sector.

Bulgheroni articulated these views in an interview with EconoJournal following the inauguration of an Axion service station. He highlighted that existing regulations prevent the oil industry from engaging in biofuel production, beyond simply acquiring the finished products. While grain exporters are involved in biodiesel production using their own soybean oil, their focus remains on international markets.

"Particularly in Pan American Energy, we are convinced that what will make the biodiesel industry, or biofuels in a broader sense, function is that we enlarge the pie," Bulgheroni stated. "That we can generate proposals and products that are exportable to the world. And there Argentina has a huge opportunity due to its competitiveness, particularly from the agricultural sector."

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The law still in force for the market does not allow the oil sector to participate in the business as such, beyond acquiring the biofuel produced by biodiesel manufacturers for gasoil and ethanol for gasoline.

He criticized the current legal framework, calling it "quite particular" and an "absolute nonsense" that prohibits refining companies from investing in biofuels within Argentina. Bulgheroni stressed that the intention is not to dominate the domestic market, but rather to leverage Argentina's agricultural strengths for global export opportunities.

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It is quite particular that the refining industry is prohibited from investing in a sector. It is quite strange that you are prohibited from investing, even more so for Argentine companies that are in a position to do so and want to do so.

"Sometimes the idea is installed that the refining industry wants to invest to take over the domestic market. That is not the case. We want to invest to export and do so in partnership with players who are currently part of the industry and share our vision," he explained. Bulgheroni believes that collaborations with industry partners who share this export-oriented vision will unlock significant investment opportunities, enabling Argentina to compete effectively in European, U.S., and other international markets.

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Sometimes the idea is installed that the refining industry wants to invest to take over the domestic market. That is not the case. We want to invest to export and do so in partnership, in association, with players who are currently part of the industry and share our vision.