President Alan Garcia

The possibility that Peru's government may buy a refinery and a chain of service stations is causing a fire storm of protests, with critics saying that President Ollanta Humala is pushing for greater state control of the economy.Government officials like Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla have acknowledged that the government is looking at having state-owned Petroleos del Peru SA (PETROBC1.VL), or Petroperu, take a minority stake in the assets that Spain's Repsol SA (REP.MC, REPYY) could sell."The decisions that the government takes, when they have to be taken, will be based strictly and scrupulously on commercial and economic aspects, not ideological ones," President Humala said late Sunday in a television interview."If we aren't clear that technically, economically, and commercially it is a good opportunity, and that the risks are going to be limited, then we won't do it," said Mr. Humala, who held a closed-door meeting in Lima last week with Repsol chairman Antonio Brufau.The own...

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