In the coming days, the price of Regular gasoline is expected to surpass that of Super gasoline in Costa Rica. According to data provided by the Costa Rican Oil Refinery (Recope), the Energy Intendancy of the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) has prepared a tariff study for fuel prices starting in December.
The regulatory body estimates a ₡65 reduction per liter for Super gasoline, while Regular gasoline is projected to increase by ₡3 per liter. Diesel prices will see a ₡23 decrease per liter. The finalized prices are expected to be as follows: Super Gasoline: ₡742 (-₡65), Regular Gasoline: ₡754 (+₡3), Diesel: ₡691 (-₡23).
These details are outlined in report IN-0250-IE-2023, dated November 21, currently in the public consultation phase until November 29. The adjustments are attributed to international price trends, with Super and Diesel seeing reductions due to factors such as decreasing crude oil inventories and global policies favoring electric vehicles. However, Regular gasoline prices remain unaffected as Recope did not make purchases during the period, anchoring its inventory to higher acquisition costs. The new prices are expected to take effect in early December, pending publication in the official gazette La Gaceta.
Why will this adjustment occur? According to Aresep, the following factors were taken into account:
- The international price showed a downward trend at the end of October and the beginning of November of the current year, due to a shift in expectations regarding a possible weakening of demand.
- In addition to the above point, public policies favoring the production and use of electric vehicles in major economies such as China and Europe have heightened concerns about hydrocarbon demand in the short term.
- Additionally, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicated that crude inventories have rebounded in recent days, favoring supply levels.
Based on the above, thanks to the reduction shown in international prices, the main products at the local level will experience a price decrease, with the exception of Regular gasoline.
In the case of Regular gasoline, there was no reduction in its price because Recope did not make purchases; thus, the basic trend of the international market was not capitalized on. On the contrary, the company accumulated a certain inventory whose price was anchored to a higher acquisition cost.
The acquisition costs obtained for the main products, covering the period from October 13, 2023, to November 9, 2023, are as follows: for Super gasoline, a value of ₡342.83 per liter was obtained, for Regular gasoline, it was ₡364.57 per liter, while for diesel, the acquisition cost obtained is ₡417.25 per liter.
During the calculation period, the average selling exchange rate for the non-banking public sector of the colon against the dollar (CRC/USD), published by the Central Bank of Costa Rica, was $536.13, which, when compared to the rate used in the previous extraordinary setting ₡537.50, recorded an appreciation of 1.37 colones per dollar. Appreciations favor price reduction, while depreciations exert upward pressure, as purchases are made in dollars.
In determining the Sectoral Policy subsidy (Executive Decree 39437-MINAE) for liquefied petroleum gas, bunker, asphalt, and asphalt emulsion prices, compliance is given to what is established in Decree 42352 – MINAE by means of which jet fuel is eliminated as a subsidized product, as well as Decree 43576-MINAE by means of which the subsidy established for asphalt and asphalt emulsion is eliminated.
As a result of the application of subsidies, the total subsidy amount for the non-sports national fishing fleet amounts to ₡41.4 million to be transferred in December 2023, and in the case of the subsidy related to Sectoral Policy, the total amount to be subsidized amounts to ₡2,653.48 million.
For this tariff study, it corresponds to apply for the first time the conversion from liters to mass for bunker, asphalt, asphalt emulsion, and liquefied petroleum gas products, taking reference densities supplied by Recope.
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