Energy changes weightings of the domestic kerosene reference price

The Ministry of Energy established the new weightings for the linear combination of prices that determines the reference price for domestic kerosene, through exempt decree No. 233, dated September 24, 2026. The regulation was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,560, on Monday, September 28, 2026, Section I, pages 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2878770). The weightings are effective from the publication of the decree.

The measure is issued under Article 6 of supreme decree No. 211, of 2000, from the Ministry of Mining, which approves the regulation of Law No. 19,030, which creates the Oil Price Stabilization Fund. This provision establishes that the intermediate reference price for each product is determined as a linear combination of the historical price, the short-term price, and the long-term price, and that the weightings of these three components are set by supreme decree signed by the Ministers of Energy and Finance, following a report from the National Energy Commission.

The new weightings

The decree establishes the following structure for domestic kerosene:

• Historical Price: 60%.
• Short-Term Price: 5%.
• Long-Term Price: 35%.

The second numeral of the administrative act specifies that these weightings will be effective from the publication of the decree in the Official Gazette, that is, from September 28, 2026.

The technical report that originated the change

The modification is based on ordinary letter No. 910/2026, dated September 23, 2026, from the National Energy Commission, which attached a Technical Report with the proposal to change the weightings for historical, short-term, and long-term prices indicated in Law No. 19,030. In its recitals, the decree states that the technical body reported “the need for changes to the weightings assigned to the aforementioned prices,” which made it necessary to issue the administrative act.

Signature, processing, and regulatory framework

The decree was signed “By order of the President of the Republic” by Ximena Rincón González, Minister of Energy, and by Jorge Antonio Quiroz Castro, Minister of Finance. The official transcription corresponds to Andrea Verónica Soto Araya, head of the Legal Division of the Undersecretariat of Energy.

Among the regulations invoked in the recitals are:

• Decree Law No. 2,224, of 1978, from the Ministry of Mining, which creates the Ministry of Energy and the National Energy Commission.
• Law No. 19,030, which creates the Oil Price Stabilization Fund.
• Supreme Decree No. 19, of 2001, from the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency, which empowers Ministers of State to sign “By order of the President of the Republic”.
• Resolution No. 36, of 2024, from the Comptroller General of the Republic.

Background: current prices

The change in weightings is published five days after Exempt Decree No. 230, of September 22, 2026, from the Ministry of Energy, which set the reference and parity prices for domestic kerosene (official reference: CVE 2876888, Official Gazette No. 44,556, of September 23, 2026). That act established:

• Lower reference price: 884.00 dollars per cubic meter.
• Intermediate reference price: 1,010.30 dollars per cubic meter.
• Upper reference price: 1,136.60 dollars per cubic meter.
• Parity price: 1,386.38 dollars per cubic meter.

Those values entered into force on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

The intermediate reference price is the component that is now recalculated with the new weighting structure, such that the change directly affects the formula used to determine the price of heating kerosene paid by Chilean households. By increasing the weight of the historical price to 60% and reducing that of the short-term price to 5%, the stabilization mechanism gains inertia and cushions weekly variations in the international market, affecting heating expenditures during the winter season and the cost assumed by the Oil Price Stabilization Fund.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,560, Monday, September 28, 2026, Section I, pp. 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2878770).