During 2019 the consumption of diesel, gasoline and gas, products with the highest participation in the oil bill, reached Ch$2,719 million, a 0.8% lower amount than that reported in 2018.
Figures from the General Direction of Hydrocarbons (DGH) detail that between 2018 and 2019 the Guatemalan oil bill was reduced by $21 million, from $2.719 million to $2.041 million.
Starting April the maximum permitted amount of sulfur will be 500 parts per million, and higher amounts of sulfur in diesel may only be used for electricity generation.
It is expected from the second week of May the new diesel will be publicly available at an additional cost of $0.06 per gallon, approximately. In the case of imported diesel intended for power generation, a special permit must be applied for from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM).
The accreted political left in Costa Rica is proposing that the oil bill that is being run up now, be paid for in the future by other generations.
EDITORIAL
Proposed by a legislative faction of the Frente Amplio party, the possible accession of Costa Rica to the oil alliance created by Venezuela, will not lower fuel prices automatically, but because of how the agreement works, it will mean financing oil purchases at rates that are just a little better than the current cost, simply to keep on increasing government debt, not to mention the political implications that could come from such a close relationship with the government of Venezuela.
The government wanted convenient terms in time frames, repayment schedules and interest rates, but no agreement was reached.
Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti, reported that the country has ruled out joining the initiative "which allows countries in the zone to buy oil from Venezuela on favorable terms," noted an article in Laprensagrafica.com.
The Guatemalan government's intention to join Petrocaribe is generating a heated argument that reveals the political background of the subject, beyond its apparent financial advantages.
Humberto Preti, in his column in Prensalibre.com, reports that "What is being done with Petrocaribe is to set up a state run or semi-state run company which does "the business" and receives the oil with 50% long-term financing with interest rates of 1% per year and with a grace period of two years before starting repayments. The oil is received at current international prices, so there is no advantage in price, but in funding. The oil is to be delivered to a refinery that can process Venezuelan heavy type oil, which is highly sulfurous-, which are those that are outside of Venezuela, in Trinidad and Curacao. Venezuela does the same and imports its own oil derivatives. The only refinery that they had burned down. This refinement has normal costs, so therefore the price of derivatives remains the same and Guatemalans would have no economic advantage. "
Price per gallon of Super gasoline, highest to lowest: $5.76 Costa Rica, Nicaragua $5.06, $4.87 Honduras, El Salvador $4.55, Panama $4.39, Guatemala $4.31.
A report has been released on the average consumer prices for Gasoline and Diesel in Central America, effective from the week 14 to April 20, 2013, based on official prices and monitoring or surveys carried out by various DGs of Hydrocarbons or equivalent in the capital of each Central American country.
SIECA has released a report on the wholesale prices of selected agricultural products and retail prices of some petroleum products, by country.
The report presents the wholesale prices of selected agricultural products and retail prices of some petroleum products by country in Central America, all expressed in a common currency: the U.S. Dollar. It also demonstrates which products registered an increase or decrease in price, both for agricultural as well as petroleum products.
In the first half of the year, the oil bill reached $1,798 million, an increase of $490 million compared to the same period in 2010.
A rise in international oil prices coupled with an increase in gasoline consumption accounts for much of the country’s increased oil bill.
Gasoline consumption, particularly diesel, rose by 0.6% in the aforementioned period, while consumption of bunker fuel, used to supply ships, rose by 9%.
Fuel is most expensive in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and cheapest in Panama.
This is one of the data presented in the recent Cepal report: "The Central American Isthmus: Hydrocarbon Statistics 2007."
The report makes a general conclusion for region on cost of fuel in the region regarding the total commercial balance. In 2006, the import of Hydrocarbons represented 15.5% of exports, while in 2007 this figure was at 17.1%.