The natural gas price is $ 560 (local currency) per cubic meter, but taking into account the reduction, the cubic meter will cost $ 460, almost 20% less. This will represent a saving of $ 226,000 per month (USD 470), in comparison with gasoline, for a taxi that travels 250 kilometers.

"According to our projections and considering the new cost of CNG, if today there are 18,000 vehicles converted to natural gas -from a total of 100,000- that figure should reach 36,000 in 2013 and 70,000 in 2014," AutoGasco president Gerardo Cood highlighted.

This growth will enable the extension of the refueling stations network owned by the company across the country, especially in Santiago’s metropolitan area. It is expected that five new facilities will be completely built by the end of the year and another five stations will be set up by 2013 in that area.

AutoGasco has five natural gas filling points in the nation's capital city: two of them located in the communes of La Florida and Cerrillos and the other three, which also serve LPG, located in Quinta Normal, Santiago Centro and Puente Alto. Two extra stations are already operating in the cities of Concepcion and Punta Arenas, in the regions.

Source: AutoGasco / Economía y Negocios.