QCOSTARICA — A report from the regulatory authority on public services, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), indicated that in 2023 a total of 13 gasoline stations across the country, out of a total of 414 evaluated, presented results that were “outside the standards” in relation to the quality of the fuel they sold to their customers.
The report details that of these 13 cases, 4 were due to color violations that show a mixture of super and regular gasoline. Another 3 were due to the temperature of the diesel.
Three more were reported with lower octane in gasoline and another 3 cases due to distillation of gasoline (possibly mixed with diesel).
According to the report, there were 6 operators who prevented Aresep’s inspection, which is a breach of their obligations; and one station had a higher price than authorized for super gasoline. Fuel prices are regulated in Costa Rica, the Aresep sets the prices that must be applied at ALL gasoline stations.
The evaluation went further, to hoses that dispense the fuel. Of the 10,411 hoses evaluated, 7 were found non-conforming, dispensing a lower volume.
According to Aresep, in every instance regarding quality and quantity not meeting standards, the service stations presented a remedial and technical evidence to show that the issue had been resolved.
The regulatory authority carries out evaluations not only at gasoline stations but also on fuels and tankers leaving the Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo (Recope), the Costa Rican refinery that refines nothing, to their final destination, the gasoline stations.
Currently, 61.5% of the fuel in the country is sold at gasoline stations, 14% is sold to direct customers of Recope and 10.8% corresponds to LPG sold by bottling plants.
During 2023, 3,782 million liters of fuel were consumed to supply local demand, which was 9.7% more than in 2022.
Diesel is the fuel with the highest national consumption (35%), followed by premium or super gasoline (20%) and regular gasoline (16%).
71% of fuels are destined for the transportation sector and 22% for the industrial sector.
