BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Argentina is to impose sanctions against the Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell for refusing to reduce the price of gasoline at the pump, Argentina's Interior Trade Department said Friday.

    Argentina claims that Shell has failed to comply with its Supplies Law, and said the state will slap a mortgage-type sanction on a Shell processing plant in the locality of Dock Sur, Avellanada, 10 km south of the capital Buenos Aires.

    Shell took the decision to not reduce the prices of its fuels to October 2007 levels, contrary to Repsol-YPF, Petrobras and Esso, which did so.

    The demand for a price reduction on the total domestic supply was made by the government since January, after the export of liquid fuels by oil companies was prohibited.

    The Interior Trade Department, under Argentina's Ministry of Economy and Production, added that the sanctions "are based on (Shell's) non-fulfillment of the supply law."

    So far Shell has accumulated fines and administrative sanctions for a total of 22 million U.S. dollars, according to government sources.