Chile: Fuels: Diesel and Gasoline

Chile: Fuels: Diesel and Gasoline

Overview

Currently, both Diesel and Gasoline fuel in Chile is limited to 15 ppm sulfur. There are slightly different standards for the Santiago region and the rest of the country, with higher-grade diesel fuel being the only type available in the Santiago metropolitan region.

Standard type
Fuel quality

Regulating Body
Ministerio de Energía

Current Standard

Diesel: 15 ppm sulfur content nationwide
Gasoline: 15 ppm sulfur content nationwide

Applicability
All gasoline and diesel sold for motor vehicles

History

Diesel

Fuel quality standards in Chile are regulated by the Ministry of Energy and include both transport and non-transport fuels. Standards in Chile vary between the Metropolitan Region of Santiago and the rest of the country. Hence, there are two grades of diesel fuel currently available in Chile:

  • Grade A1—the only on-road diesel fuel legally available to the public in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Beginning July 2004, grade A1 diesel (D.S. No. 58/04) was required to have a maximum sulfur limit of 50 ppm and lubricity requirement (D.S. No. 222/04). In April 2010, new fuel requirements for Grade A1 diesel were introduced to limit sulfur to 15 ppm mass by September 2011. The new requirements also relaxed the polyaromatic and nitrogen contents and increased the density and distillation ranges (D.S. No. 66/10).
  • Grade B—the diesel fuel intended for the rest of the country. Starting in 2007, Grade B diesel fuel (D.S. No. 133/04) sulfur was limited to 350 ppm. In 2008, the cetane number of Grade B increased to 50 to match Grade A1 and in March 2012, new fuel requirements for Grade B diesel were introduced to limit sulfur to 50 ppm (D.S. N° 60/12). These sulfur limits for Grade B diesel were tightened to 15 ppm as of September 2013. The most recent diesel specification requirements are summarized by the Compania de Petroleos de Chile COPEC S.A.

Gasoline

Unleaded gasoline was introduced to the Chilean market in 1991 and was nationally mandated since April 2001. There are currently three types of gasolines sold in Chile with research octane numbers (RON) of 93, 95 and 97. In addition, there are different specifications requirements for gasoline in both the Metropolitan Region of Santiago and the rest of the country. For the Metropolitan region, unleaded gasoline must not exceed 15ppm of sulfur in accordance with (D.S. No. 66/10). Beginning on 1 Sept 2012, new fuel requirements for gasoline limited sulfur to 15 ppm for the rest of the country, down from the previous maximum limit of 30 ppm as stipulated in DS N° 60. These most recent gasoline specification requirements are summarized by the Compania de Petroleos de Chile COPEC S.A.

Technical Standards

MAR-I emission limits are phased in from 2015 to 2019. The implementation dates depend on the power category and type of machinery (construction or farm). Noise emission limits apply from 2015 for certain types of construction machinery with engines rated below 500 kW.

MAR-I Emission Standards for Nonroad Engines

Rated Power Date CO NOx+HC PM
kW Construction Farming g/kWh
130 ≤ P ≤ 560 January 2015 January 2017 3.5 4.0 0.2
75 ≤ P < 130 January 2015 January 2017 5.0 4.0 0.3
37 ≤ P < 75 January 2015 January 2019 5.0 4.7 0.4
19 ≤ P < 37 January 2017 January 2019 5.5 7.5 0.6

Emissions are measured in accordance with ISO 8178-1.

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