Congress has passed a law which promotes the conversion of taxicab engines into ones that can use liquefied petroleum gas.
Taxi drivers have asked that the government finance the conversion in exchange for not receiving bonds as compensation for the increase in petroleum. The law states that the Ministry of Finance will create a trust to fund the changes.
Taxes paid in cash by thermal power generators for diesel and bunker fuel imports could be returned in the form of state bonds.
Elheraldo.hn reports that "staff at the Ministry of Finance (Sefin) participated "in an analysis and preparation of regulation for tax payments to thermal generators through bonds".
This measure has annoyed thermal companies, who believe that if they pay taxes in cash, the repayment should be made under the same terms.
The directors of the Costa Rican state run entity RECOPE say that "there are already a number of studies which prove profitability," but as they can not produce them, they have announced that universities will be hired to do so.
Added to the $50 million that has already been spent on the project, will be these extra costs for more technical studies, and the recruitment of "national universities who will delve deeper, from academia, into the information which international consultants have already verified and approved."
The limited information presented by the state run refinery RECOPE shows that the Costa Rican government will bear the entire risk of the $1.5 billion project.
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It is still not known how much the new refinery will cost, but the head of Economic and Financial Studies unit at Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE), said: "The latest figure is around the $1.5 billion mark."
Although the market is not growing significantly, there is still investment being made in new terminals for the storage and supply of the fuel.
"Recently the fuel terminal Melones, located in the Pacific and rated by experts as "state of the art" went into operation. The investment in this project has been estimated at between $60 million and $90 million.
The Chamber of Agriculture of Guatemala believes that integration to Petrocaribe will not bring advantages and will bring disadvantages.
Jose Molina, president of the Chamber of Agriculture, said that since 2008, when Guatemala joined the program, they have been expressing their total opposition because the project represents an increase in public debt.
The state fuel company Recope is working on two investment projects to supply aviation fuel to Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia.
The first project already being worked on by the Costa Rican Oil Refinery (Recope) is a new plant in the area, whose works are advanced by 26% so far. It also presented a blueprint for the construction of two tanks on the Barranca plant in Puntarenas to support storage.
The plant located in Puerto Cortes, which had been seriously affected by the earthquake of 2009, now has capacity to store 71,000 barrels of fuel.
Among the works developed at the site was the restoration of 26 tanks with a capacity of 711,000 barrels of various petroleum products which are sold in Honduras. In addition, infrastructure was rebuilt in the administrative area, piping systems and fire protection system.
Delays in unloading a ship and specifications errors have forced the state electricity company, the ICE, to use diesel instead of bunker fuel to generate electricity.
A boat containing bunker fuel for had to wait 11 days in Puerto Caldera before unloading. "The delay forced the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) to use diesel (much more expensive) to produce electricity during that time", reported Nacion.com.
Authorities are pushing for a pilot plan to blend ethanol in gasoline used by vehicles.
The signing of this agreement is being pushed by the Department of Sustainable Development at the Organization of American States (OAS). According to Ruben Contreras, representative of the entity, the country has a mature ethanol industry and this will also help clean up the environment.
In Costa Rica a gas distributor has joined a company that sells equipment for the conversion of diesel engines to use the mixture in working vehicles.
Zeta Gas Costa Rica, owned by Mexico's Grupo Zeta, is a major distributor of liquefied petroleum gas, and has a network of service stations where automotive liquefied gas is sold.
Nacion.com reports that "GasAuto Z, located in La Uruca, San Jose, will launch in the next few months a new business providing the service for diesel vehicles."
As of January 2013, 25% of the fleet of fuel trucks will be disbanded.
A group of about 180 tanks fuel will not be allowed to continue their public service transport because they have not complied with the requirement to submit applications for renewal before the agreed deadline (31 July 2012).
A press release from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (Minaet) reads:
The fuel company has announced a regional expansion process in El Salvador, Honduras and Panama.
Juan Salazar, manager of the company, explained that in 2013 they plan to open 75 stations in these countries, with a total investment of $48 million and an average cost of $500,000 per facility.
The company began in 2010 in Guatemala with one gas station, by the end of 2011 it had 16 and it now has 37 plus a further 21 planned in this country by the end of 2012, according to elperiodico.com.gt.
Service stations sold motorists 388 million gallons of fuel in 2011, whereas sales in 2005 were 256 million.
In Panama, the sale of fuel and lubricants has grown by 51.49% in the last 7 years. In 2005 it was 256.21 million gallons and in 2011 it reached 388.15 million, according to the National Hydrocarbons Secretariat.
Sky high oil prices in international markets have not slowed demand for fuel from Panamanians, even during the years of the international financial crisis, 2008-2009, reported Capital.com.pa.