Gasoline Prices in Costa Rica
Going Up Next Week. UH???
Although the international price for a barrel of crude oil has
maintained below us$50 a barrel, fueling low prices around the
world, in Costa Rica, gasoline prices are going up next week. Yup,
you read it right, gasoline prices are going UP!
The Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep)
yesterday approved an increase of ¢16 for the price of a litre of
super, ¢18 for regular and ¢3 for diesel.
This is the first increase following four consecutive price drops.
The increase is based on a request by the Refinadora Costarricense
de Petróleo (Recope) - state refinery - based on the increases of
the price of crude oil on international markets during the month of
January.
José León Desanti, Recope president, defended the increase by saying
that a careful market analysis was made to warrant an adjustment in
the price of fuel.
For his part, the regulador general, Fernando Herrero, said that as
prices can drop at any time, they can also rise.
Many yesterday criticized the Aresep decision, bewildered as to why
an increase when oil prices have been dropping.
The price of crude dropped from a high of us$150 a barrel to us$100
six months ago to the current below us$50. However, prices at the
pumps in Costa Rica did not start to come down until December, after
they reached a high of ¢734 for super, ¢721 for regular and ¢726 for
diesel.
And now an increase?
Pura Vida, Mae! |
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