Carlos Oliva, Legal Delegate Zeta Gas

Since entering El Salvador in 2000, Mexican gas firm Zeta Gas has cornered 20 percent of the bottled LP gas market on an investment of $20 million. "Customer satisfaction is the key," says Carlos Oliva, Zeta Gas's legal delegate. "We entered a country with high gas prices, badly maintained cylinders, no home delivery and frequent shortages. We have changed all that."

Zeta Gas operates in most Central American countries and owns Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala, one of Latin America's largest LPG deposits. From this base the company targets 45-50 percent of the Salvadoran market in the next two years. But the struggle is uphill. "We arrived in El Salvador to find a 49 year-old monopoly," says Mr. Oliva referring to fellow Mexican gas firm Tropigas, which has around 70 percent of the market. "Monopolies still exist and, worse, are government protected," says Mr. Oliva. He rests Zeta Gas's survival in El Salvador on current moves to regulate the fuel market. "All we ask for are clear rules."