QCOSTARICA – At the stroke of midnight tonight, well at 12:01 am Wednesday, to be exact, fuel prices in Costa Rica will increase. How, much you say?
The answer depends on the type of fuel, ie regular or super gasoline, diesel, LPG, etc, when the first increase in the cost of fuel takes effect after being published in La Gaceta today.
According to the approved prices by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), the price of a liter of regular gasoline will be ¢744 colones (¢47 more than today), ¢760 for a liter of super (¢46 more than today), and ¢668 for diesel (¢57 more than today)
The adjustment represents for consumers an additional ¢2,070 needed on Wednesday to fill a 45-liter gas tank; ¢2,115 for the same tank with super; and ¢2,565 with deisel.
Also, other fuels will see an increase, such as LPG or natural gas that is used in most kitchens (home and business) in the country.
According to the adjustment, a 25-pound cylinder will cost tomorrow ¢9,622 colones, up from today’s ¢8,899, a difference of ¢723 colones.
The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (Recope) – the Costa Rican Oil Refinery that refines nothing and the sole provider of all fuels in the country, justified the increases on January 16, attributing them to an increase in oil derivatives in international markets due to an increase in demand just when supply was lagging, mainly due to a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to only increase production by 400,000 barrels per day (bp) as of November 2021.
According to the current calculation methodology, Recope requests an extraordinary monthly price adjustment on the second Friday of each month, the next one being on February 11, and any adjustments approved by the Aresep, take effect in the last week of the current month or first of the next.
