Gasoline Prices To Drop By ¢59
The public hearing is set for December 7 and failing any last minute surprises, the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos (Aresep) is set to lower the price of gasoline at the pumps.

The regulator of public prices and services has proposed that the price of super gasoline drop by ¢59 colones per litre, while the price of regular ¢46 colones per litre.

However, the news is not all good.

The Aresep is proposing an increase in the cost of diesel fuel by as much as ¢33 colones per litre. That increase will affect industry and bus companie that for the most part use diesel power trucks and buses.

The Aresep says it conducted a study of the operations of the state refinery, Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo S.A. (Recope), and found that gasoline prices are too high.

The study will also affect the prices of other petroleum products like asphalt, aviation fuel, bunker fuel, etc. though the Aresep has not commented on any price adjustments just yet.

The Aresep is the government body that regulates gasoline prices at the pumps of all gasoline stations in the country and believes that a price adjustment is required.

However, the new prices cannot take effect until the public hearings have been completed, which are expected to be very short, and the price at the pump can come as early as a week after.

If and when the new prices are approved, the price for a litre of regular gasoline will drop to ¢428 from the current ¢474 colones; super will drop from the current ¢504 to ¢445 colones per litre; however, diesel will increase from the current ¢346 to ¢379 colones per litre.