NEW YORK - Royal Dutch Shell Plc, refiner of nearly 15 percent of Argentina's fuel, is suing the government over a ban that prevents fuel producers from increasing prices in the country, Bloomberg reports.

Shell's court complaint, filed last week, follows Argentina's order last week mandating oil companies to lower fuel prices to a pre-August 1 level. During the first half of 2010, fuel prices rose 21 percent in the country, according to a Buenos Aires-based energy research company.

"Over the past year fuel prices have had continuous increases, which have had a negative impact on different sectors of the economy," the government resolution said. Controlling fuel prices is a "key component in the government??s objective to ensure economic growth."

Shell has battled the Argentine government over fuel prices in the last few years. As a result, in 2005, then-President Nestor Kirchner urged consumers to boycott the company over its rising prices. And in 2007, the government closed a Shell refinery, alleging environmental concerns.

Shell is one of Argentina's four largest gasoline station operators and owns a refinery in the country that processes about 113,000 barrels a day of diesel and naphtha fuels.