A proposed U.S. ban on diesel exports could affect fuel supplies and prices in Costa Rica. President Donald Trump said yesterday he supports the idea, which could squeeze one of Costa Rica’s main sources of the fuel just as prices here are set to rise again in October. Trump made the remarks to reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel,” he said, adding that a decision would come “fast, one way or the other.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is studying whether a full or partial ban would be feasible given overall refining capacity. U.S. diesel averaged a record $6.53 per gallon yesterday, according to AAA. The stakes for Costa Rica are significant as data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show the United States exported 8.69 million barrels of distillate fuels to Costa Rica in 2025, down from 9.55 million in 2024. Between January and June of this year, the latest period available, shipments totaled 4.83 million barrels.
Costa Rica imports all of the fuel it uses, and the state refiner RECOPE handles those purchases. Import records published by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) document diesel bought from U.S. suppliers, including a June 2025 cargo of more than 254,000 barrels loaded in Baytown, Texas, with a delivered cost above $21 million.
A U.S. restriction could force RECOPE to look for diesel elsewhere in a global market already under strain. World diesel prices reached record levels in September after supplies from Russia and the Middle East were disrupted, and U.S. inventories are running about 15% below their five-year average for this time of year.
Local prices are already climbing. Preliminary figures RECOPE submitted to Aresep on Sept. 11 would raise diesel by â‚¡97 per liter in October, from â‚¡688 to â‚¡785. The proposal now under Aresep review puts the new price at â‚¡788, an increase of â‚¡100 per liter.
At â‚¡788 per liter, diesel would cost about â‚¡2,983 per gallon, or roughly $6.63 at the Central Bank’s reference exchange rate. That is slightly above the record U.S. average. The same proposal would raise super gasoline by â‚¡38 to â‚¡764 per liter and regular by â‚¡11 to â‚¡718.
RECOPE has attributed the October increase to international market conditions, tensions in the Middle East and updated rate components. Aresep is taking public comments through Tuesday, Sept. 29, before it sets final prices. Those October figures reflect fuel RECOPE bought before Trump’s comments. Aresep adjusts prices monthly based on the refiner’s actual import costs and the exchange rate, so any spike in international diesel prices tied to a U.S. ban would reach Costa Rican pumps in later adjustments.
Diesel moves our buses, cargo trucks and farm machinery, so price increases tend to filter into transport fares and the cost of goods.The idea has divided Trump’s own cabinet as Energy Secretary Chris Wright said today that a ban would not work and could push up gasoline and jet fuel prices as refiners cut output.
“The blunt tool of banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work,” Wright said. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has also opposed the measure. Energy analysts have warned that pulling the world’s largest diesel exporter out of the market could bring short-term relief along the U.S. Gulf Coast while driving prices higher elsewhere.
Fuel costs have already weighed on tourism this year. The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) cited geopolitical tensions and more expensive jet fuel among the reasons air arrivals fell 1.2% in June compared with the same month in 2025. No decision has been announced in Washington. Aresep’s final ruling on October fuel prices is expected after its public consultation closes Sept. 29.
