Drivers can breathe a little easier starting today with a record price drop at the pumps, a liter of super gasoline dropping ¢57 colones, regular ¢48 and diesel ¢12.
Yesterday, the official government newsletter published the latest gasoline price drop approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep).
Thus, as of 12:01 am today (November 29), the cost of a liter of super went from ¢694 to ¢637, regular dropped from ¢674 to ¢626 and diesel from ¢599 to ¢587.
The price drop also includes Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and aviation fuel, among others.
What the drop means is that today it costs ¢2.565 less to fill a 45-liter gas tank for super, ¢2,160 for regular and ¢540 for diesel.
Changes in gasoline prices are requested every second Friday of the month by the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (Recope) – state refinery to the Aresep, in a process that then includes a public hearing and publication in La Gaceta.
The next request is on December 14, the last one for 2018, which is expected to take in effect in the first days of 2019, taking into account the holiday period.
Reasons for the drop
The morning drop is the strongest in 2018. According to Recope there have been seven increases and four reductions (including this one) in the year.
For this drop, the Recope cites an increase in world oil production, the demand also influenced the drop, when a speculative effect arose on the possible economic slowdown, commercial wars and the increase in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which hit U.S. stock markets.
All this lowered the price up north, from where Costa Rica imports finished fuels.
The increase in the dollar exchange in the recent weeks prevented the price drop to be even greater, according to Recope officials.
