Costa Rica News – I think most of us when we pull into the gas station in Costa Rica are amazed by the astronomical price of fuel. If you compare the price of gas in Costa Rica to that of the USA or even surrounding countries it is greater by leaps and bounds.
Why is the gas that Recope (Costa Rican monopoly) provides so much more expensive?
Is it the quality? Nope, It has been proven again and again that the gas that Recope provides is actually substandard.
Is it the refinery costs? If that were true then joining Petrocaribe would have been a no-brainer.
Perhaps the real reason that the government did not allow a competitor to Recope is cash under the table and in the pockets of Recope officials.
59% of the money we pay to the Costa Rican Oil Refinery (Recope) goes to paying salaries and incentives for their employees. Of their ¢86,500 million budget for this year, ¢50,600 is allocated for wages.
This figure includes direct wages and social security payments as well as allowances and incentives that fall under the collective labor agreement. The operating cost for Recope contributes to the problem of Costa Rica having the highest gas prices in Central America.
After salaries, operating costs are the next highest expenditure for the company. This figure represents 5% of the annual budget, ¢ 1.7 billion, most of which is used to purchase hydrocarbons.
The bonus for years of service is an incentive that was declared unconstitutional for non-professional employees of Recope. This was one of the biggest expenditures, at ¢12,000 million per year, more than the ¢9,000 million spent on base salaries.
Maybe they have to pay themselves more to make sure they can afford the high gas prices?
