Gas cylinders are not ready for fracted sale, says Sindigás president

The President of the National Union of oil-effect gas distribution companies (Sindigás), Sergio Bandeira de Mello, criticized the proposal of the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and biofuels (ANP) to allow the fractionated sale of gas from Kitchen. According to him, the Brazilian cylinders are not prepared for fractionation. In July, the Director general of ANP, Décio Oddone, stated that the agency was studying to allow the fracted sale of cooking gas to consumers. According to Oddone, the proposal would primarily impact low-income households that do not have the resources to buy a complete gas cylinder. "The 120 million of Brazilian cylinders are not prepared for fractionated filling. Substitution would be by cylinders from 50% to 120% more expensive. If the question is social, you would have problems, "said Sérgio Bandeira de Mello during a seminar on energy promoted by the Ministry of Economics. The president of Sindigás also criticized the social impact of the measure and stated that the fractionation offers security risks. During his participation in the seminar, he cited accidents occurring during the fracted sale of gas in other countries. "With respect to low-income families, who are going to buy LPG if they can buy fractionated, sorry, they won't buy. They're going to buy rice and beans and go pick up firewood, "said the union president. During his presentation, Décio Oddone stated that the agency never said that the fractionation would occur with the current cylinders and that the fractionation is already done in larger cylinders. He also stated that there would be no difference in doing this with the 13-pound cylinders. "In no time has it been put that our opinion is fractionated filling of the current cylinders without respecting safety rules. Looks like that's the issue under discussion. [If it is] is disqualifying the debate, we will debate seriously, "he criticized.