Recope Confirms Fuel Price Hikes for April ⋆ The Costa Rica News

The Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (Recope) confirmed that fuel prices will rise starting in April due to the conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States.

“This conflict has been going on for two weeks now, and oil prices have definitely changed. The situation in February was one thing, but what we’re seeing in March is quite another. We’ll start to see the impact of this conflict on prices beginning in April,” said Karla Montero, CEO of Recope

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The official explained that the prices set in our country depend on three factors. One of them is the international price, which for Costa Rica is determined by West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and stands at $95 on international markets.

In addition, the exchange rate and transportation costs are taken into account.

“As a net importer of fuel, we cannot ignore the realities of the international market because that is where we make our purchases. Whatever happens in a highly productive oil-producing region, such as the Persian Gulf, will affect the entire global market—even if we buy our supplies from another part of the world,” added the president of Recope.

Although the increase has been confirmed, Montero clarified that the exact amount has yet to be determined, since some of the oil shipments received by the institution arrived 15 days before the conflict began, while others arrived 15 days after hostilities escalated.

“We handle about three diesel shipments a month and two gasoline shipments a month. The prices over those four weeks are averaged and then applied to the rates. We’re still fine-tuning the calculations, and one factor that could somewhat offset that increase is the price differential. Since we’re coming off a period of fairly low oil prices, we do expect that differential to work in users’ favor,” he explained.

The International Energy Agency recently released 400 million barrels to curb rising crude oil prices in the wake of the war in the Middle East. This is the largest release of oil reserves in history.

The Chamber of Fuel Entrepreneurs explained that the impact on the country is not immediate but depends on several factors, such as:

– The duration of the conflict

– The stability of maritime traffic in the Gulf

– The performance of WTI crude

– Production decisions by exporting countries

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