Q COSTARICA — Consumers in Costa Rica will face a new blow to their budgets starting next week, when the new adjustments to fuel rates approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP)—regulatory authority—come into effect.
This adjustment is based on the extraordinary study from May 2026, which compiles the actual costs of shipments handled by the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (RECOPE) between April 10 and May 7 of this year.
The current geopolitical situation, marked by persistent instability and the escalation of the armed conflict in the Middle East, continues to exert strong pressure on international energy markets.
Since crude oil is the essential raw material for fuel production, its global price increase is automatically and inevitably passed on to the prices of the finished products that the Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo (RECOPE)— Costa Rican refinery that refines nothing, imports to meet the domestic demand.
One particular detail that persists and is becoming more established in the Costa Rican market is the reversal of the price gap between the two types of gasoline available at service stations.
Historically, Premium or Super gasoline has been more expensive due to its higher octane rating. However, due to the dynamics of international purchases and the specific dates of shipments acquired by RECOPE, Regular gasoline will continue be more expensive than Super.
The new prices:
- Regular gasoline will experience an increase of ¢8 colones per liter, raising its current price from ¢748 to ¢756 per liter (equivalent to US$1.47 per liter).
- Super gasoline will increase ¢20 colones per liter, going from ¢733 to ¢753.00 per liter (equivalent to US$1.46 per liter).
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will see an increase of ¢6 per liter, reaching ¢272. This increase directly impacts the cost of the 25-pound gas cylinder (the most consumed by residential and commercial users in the country), which will rise by ¢144 colones, from ¢7,255 to ¢7,399.
- Meanwhile, diesel will decrease by ¢46 colones per liter, dropping to ¢670 from the current ¢716.
These changes are expected to take effect mid-next week, the day after their publication in the official gazette, La Gaceta.
Costa Rica highly sensitive to external shocks
As a non-oil-producing country, Costa Rica is extremely vulnerable to external shocks in the global economy.
International analysts and the ARESEP agree that, in the short term, there are no clear signs or market factors that would suggest a swift stabilization or a sustained downward trend in international crude oil prices.