Gasoline Prices To Increase ¢40
As expected and following denials the day earlier, the Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) made a formal request to the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) - regulating body of public prices and services - for an increase in the price of gasoline.

In less than two weeks, a litre of gasoline will cost between ¢30 and ¢39 colones for each litre pumped.

The increase is a direct result in the rising world price for crude oil that reached a record us$58 dollars a barrel last week. Costa Rica imports crude oil and refines it for local consumption.

Once the ARESEP gives the green light, the price for a litre of regular gasoline will jump from the current ¢364 (us$0.77) to ¢401 (us$0.85) a litre, super will go  from ¢381 (us$0.81) to ¢420 (us$0.89) and the price of a litre of diesel gasoline will be set at ¢303 (us$0.65)f rom the current ¢273 (us$0.58).

The new prices would set a record high in Costa Rica, the third time the record has been set this year, where a US gallon of super gasoline will reach US$3.56 (over us$4.04 for a Canadian gallon).

This will be the third increase this year for a total increase of 15%. Last year there were 11 increases that summed to 2.33% increase in prices over those of 2003, this according to figures released by RECOPE.

RECOPE is the state agency that imports and refines crude oil and distributes it to gasoline station operators, while the ARESEP sets the price of the product is uniform throughout the country at all gasoline pumps, no matter if it is a small or a large chain operator.