QCOSTARICA – The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo(RECOPE – the refinery that does not refine anything – requested the sixth consecutive fuel hike in 2021.
As in previous months, the company justified the request in the increase in international fuel prices.
According to the request presented this Friday before the Regulatory Authority of Public Services (Aresep), the RECOPE asked for an increase of ¢22 per liter of super gasoline, ¢21 in the liter of regular, and an additional 34 for the liter of diesel.
If, more like when, approved, the price for the final consumer of super gasoline will go from ¢708 to ¢730 per liter; that of regular gasoline will rise from ¢689 to ¢710 and that of diesel will go from ¢553 to ¢587.
The Aresep has 15 days to resolve this request and then publish its decision in the official newspaper La Gaceta.
We can expect the hike at the pumps in the last week of May and the first days of June.
When the increase takes effect, a liter of super will be ¢147 more expensive than in January, ¢148 for a liter of regular and ¢104 for diesel.
For consumers, that would be mean an increase of ¢6,615 to fill a 45-liter tank with super, ¢6,660 with regular, and ¢4,680 with diesel.
Why are fuel prices rising?
Explaining the increase, the RECOPE said in a statement that the rise in the international price of fuels in recent weeks is due to operational and capacity problems in the Gulf of Mexico refineries, supply insecurity, atmospheric catastrophes, in addition to tensions. political and military in the main oil-producing areas.
The state company reiterated that it is also the effect of the expectations of the growth of the demand for fuels, due to the reactivation of economies in developed countries and the advance of vaccination against covid-19 in the world.
On June 11, the RECOPE will again request an adjustment, which could mean yet another price hike, in accordance with the current pricing methodology by which, a request can be made every second Friday of the month, for a variation in prices that will come into two to three weeks following, if approved by the Aresep.
