Change Could Soon See Gasoline Price Shopping At The Pumps
Costa Ricans are accustomed to buying the same gasoline at the same prices at any gasoline station in the country. The price of gasoline is set by the Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo (RECOPE) with the approval of the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) - government regulating agency.

RECOPE buys crude oil on world markets then refines and sells the end product to gasoline station owners at the same price, be it a large retailer like Shell or Texaco or a small independent.

However, a move by the ARESEP to change that has many small independents to join the battle avoid the introduction of a model that would allow gasoline station owners to provide discounted prices at the pumps.

The ARESEP has announced a public hearing for June 7, that will allow the public to voice its opinions and concerns on the move.

If approved, independents fear that large national retailers like Shell, Texaco and Total, will take over the market from independent with lower gasoline prices due to discounts given them for volume purchasing. The independents fear their slow demise in the face of the large operators.

Berny Ramírez, representative of the independents, explained that his group has made a "recurso amparo" - an appeal - before the Constitutional Court, claiming that the ARESEP does not have the right to change the pricing model, but rather just to set the price of gasoline.

Ramírez is hoping that the Constitutional Court will rule in their favour otherwise they will be faced with having to employ alternative measures to make their protest known, though no specific details were given. In the coming weeks, Ramírez said he and his group will meet with the incoming regulator and the current regulator, Aracelly Pacheco, who leaves office today.

The change would mean that a maximum and minimum price level would be set and it will be up to the individual retailers and gasoline station owners to set the final sale price. The change would also mean that Ticos (Costa Ricans) will have the choice to shop around for gasoline prices.