If you thought that gasoline prices in Costa Rica would be dropping anytime soon, given the drop in the price of crude oil on international markets, you would be wrong.
According to the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) - the regulator of public prices and services - the method used to fix gasoline prices is once a month.
The director energey of the Aresep, Álvaro Barrantes , explained that the method to adjust gasoline prices is based on the international price and the exchange rate, however, there is a gap.
Gasoline price adjustments can only be made every second Friday of the month and it uses the average price of crude for the past 30 days. So, when the Aresep gives its approval following the second Friday request it does not reflect the crude oil price at the moment, but of days previous.
Complicating matters is the time the Aresep needs to analyze the request, taking into account a public consultation, which can take up to a month.
“The prices we have today has a gap of one or two months with respect to the international market”, said Barrantes.
Currently the Aresep is studying the latest request made by the State refinery, RECOPE, on August 11 asking for a drop of ¢1 colon for a litre of super, ¢5 for regular and ¢3 for diesel. In addition, the regulator is analyzing an increase of the tax on fuels of ¢5 colones for a litre of super, ¢5 for regular and ¢3 for diesel.
Many feel that that request is a joke, mocking Costa Ricans who have seen record fuel prices this year, when prices have been falling in other countries.
Currently, a litre of super gasoline sells for ¢732 colones; regular ¢721; and diesel ¢726.
Gasoline prices in Costa Rica are uniform across the country, even though in Guanacaste and Puntarenas regular gasoline is being sold with a mixture of ethanol.
