December could bring another drop in fuel prices

The National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) on Friday evening requested a new decrease in the per-liter prices of fuel ranging from ₡29-₡68. It could take effect next month.

The request will be evaluated by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) and submitted for public consultation in the next two weeks. If approved it could go into effect the second week of December.

RECOPE on Thursday announced it would submit a price reduction of some ₡20-₡60 per liter, but the final calculation resulted in a bigger drop for all consumer prices.

According to the refinery’s request, a liter of Super gasoline would drop from ₡757 to ₡689 ($1.40-1.27), Plus gasoline would decrease from ₡720 to ₡655 ($1.33-1.21) and diesel from ₡636 to ₡607 ($1.17-1.12).

The price decrease, which would be the fifth consecutive in the past five months, originated in a variation of international prices by -15 percent for oil and -6 percent for diesel, and an 0.8 percent decrease in the dollar exchange rate, RECOPE reported.