QCOSTARICA – The regulating authority, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP), confirmed that it will be processing a reduction in fuel prices, ¢96 for a liter of diesel and ¢74 in super gasoline, but not until the new year.
On December 9, the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) – the Costa Rican refinery that refines nothing, filed for the adjustment, which includes a slight increase of ¢2 in regular gasoline.
In a normal month, the ARESEP would process the request within 15 days of presenting by the RECOPE every second Friday of the month, with an adjustment ruling and price change at the pumps before the month’s end or at worst the first days of the coming month, after the completion of the public consultation process that must be published in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta.
However, given the holiday schedule of closings of government offices, we the consumer will have to wait it out for one of the single biggest reductions in fuel prices until the ARESEP resumes its functions in the new year.
For his part, RECOPE president, Juan Manuel Quesada, lamented that the adjustment will not be a reality this year.
If and when this adjustment is approved, a liter of super gasoline would go from the current ¢821 to ¢747, regular from ¢783 to ¢785 and the diesel from ¢846 to ¢750.
Ok, since most vehicles use regular gasoline, the wait is not so bad, but for the rest, mainly transporters of people and cargo, mainly using diesel fuel, and of those with older vehicles that require the octane in super gasoline, the wait not so good.
