QCOSTARICA – The end of the month will bring an increase in fuel prices: ¢13 colones per litre of super and regula gasoline, and ¢24 for diesel, following the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Público (ARESP) approval Friday afternoon.
The increase is in response to a request by the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) – Costa Rica’s State refinery.
Once the approval goes into effect, the price at the pumps will increase: for a litre of super from ¢566 to ¢579; regular from ¢541 to ¢554; and diesel from ¢443 to ¢467.
In Costa Rica, the price of fuel is the same at all pumps across the country.
The adjustment will take effect the day following the publication in the official government newsletter, La Gaceta, which is to occur probably by the of the week.
The RECOPE is citing hikes in the international price of petroleum products and the exchange rate of the dollar in Costa Rica.
According to RECOPE, the international price for a barrel of super gasoline rose US$3.50 a barrel, going from US$57.40 to US$60.90. Regular gasoline went from US$56.20 to US$59.60, a difference of US$3.40. And diesel rose US$6.70 a barrel, from US$52.70 to US$59.40.
RECOPE justified said the increases are due to two main factors: one, U.S. prices remain affected upward by a seasonal factor because it has not completed the period of greatest demand for gasoline (driving season), when it is usual that the price of gasoline rise in this part of the world; and two, a potential Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production freeze or a cutback, at a meeting of the members of the convened in Algeria in the framework of the International Forum Energy.
