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Recope Pays us$30 A Barrel Extra For Refined
Gasoline
The state
owned Refinadora Costarricense de Petroleo S.A.
(RECOPE) could save up to us$30 a barrel on
gasoline it imports, if it were to buy crude oil
instead and refine it here.
RECOPE currently refines only 43% of the 42.000
barrels consumed daily in the country , meaning
it has to pay more to have it refined outside
the country.
During February and April of this year,
the price of a barrel of West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude oil has been
oscillating between us$60 and us$65 dollars.
RECOPE has been able negotiate a deal of between
us$54 and us$60 a barrel for the crude oil it
imported during the period.
However, the cost of the refined gasoline
products was much higher. A barrel of diesel
cost between us$70 and us$81, while gasoline
ranged between us$65 and us$90 a barrel.
Costa Rica imports gasoline that is then
transformed into "super" and "regular" at home.
it is clear that if RECOPE had completely
imported crude oil and then refined it, the
state institution could have saved some us$155
million dollars in the last 12 months.
And that would have meant lower gasoline prices
at the pumps, no doubt.
According to José León Desanti, president of
RECOPE, the institution is pushing for a us$150
million dollar investment to double the capacity
of the Limón refinery.
The expansion would allow RECOPE to refine some
38.000 barrels of crude oil daily, while its
current capacity is only 18.000 barrels.
Desanti said that the expansion and
modernization plans have been in the works since
the 1990's, but due to financial constraints,
the project was divided into two phases, the
first phase was completed in 2001.
RECOPE is looking to financial help from the
Banco Centroamericano de Intregación Económica (BCIE)
with an investment of us$129 million and will
use us$30 million of its own money to complete
the expansion plan.
Desanti is hopeful that the project will become
a reality in the coming months and should have
the expanded production flowing by next year.
In addition to the expanded production, Desanti
said that RECOPE will also be looking to expand
its work force from the current 1.700 employees.
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