QCOSTARICA – The regulating authority, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), approved this Friday the sharp increase in fuels requested by the Costa Rican oil refinery that refines nothing, the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (Recope) two weeks ago and which will take effect next week.
The cost per liter of super gasoline that will take effect the day after the approval is published in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta will rise by ¢87, while regular gasoline will increase by ¢85 and diesel by ¢121.
The adjustment is expected to happen by the end of next week at the latest, the cost of a liter of super gasoline will go from the current ¢822 to ¢909; regular gasoline, from ¢804 to ¢889; and the diesel; from ¢724 to ¢845.
This would mean an increase of 19% in gasoline and 26% in the case of diesel, with respect to current prices.
Other fuels will also see increases, such as cooking gas or LPG, as a 25-pound cylinder (the most commonly used) will increase is ¢1,004, whose price goes from the current ¢10,226 to ¢11,230.
“The Authority has already completed the process. Costa Rica is facing the effects of the war (in Ukraine) and this increase is explained by the impact of three variables. The upward trend in international prices, the increase in the exchange rate of the dollar with respect to the colon and the updating of the single tax on fuels. The most important variable is external prices,” explained Mario Mora of the Aresep.
The approval this Friday afternoon buried the government’s proposal to the Legislative Assembly sent last week that attempted to annul the increase, forcing the Recope to submit a new request, stalling any increases until next month.
Under the current pricing methodology, the Recope submits a request on the second Friday of the month, which triggers the process of the Aresep to approve or deny typically within 15 days.
This would be the second hike this month, The last was on March 1, to which Recope also attributed to the armed conflict over the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. That adjustment added ¢57 per liter of super, ¢56 for regular gasoline and ¢53 for diesel.
In this way, March will close with an accumulated increase ¢144 per liter of super gasoline, ¢141 for regular and ¢174 for diesel.
