In the first quarter of 2021 fuel sales in the country have shown an upward trend, as in January 59.6 million gallons were demanded, in February the figure rose to 65.3 million gallons and in March it climbed to 75.7 million gallons.
The accumulated figures show that during the first quarter of the year, 201 million gallons of fuel were sold in the Panamanian market, a figure that is 20% lower than that reported in the same period of 2020.
In the first days of March of this year, the highest prices were reported in the Dominican Republic, while the lowest were registered in the Panamanian capital.
The regional report on average prices to the final consumer of gasoline, diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Central America, effective for the week of February 27 to March 7, 2021, was made based on official prices and monitoring or surveys carried out by the different General Directorates of Hydrocarbons or equivalent, in the capital of each Central American country.
Following the increase in fuel prices in Guatemala of more than 20% between January and March, local authorities forecast that this behavior will continue during the following weeks.
Due to the economic crisis generated by the Covid-19 outbreak, fuel consumption plummeted in the Guatemalan market during 2020 and fuel prices fell to historic lows.
During January of this year in Panama 90 million gallons of fuel were sold, a figure that is 7% less than that reported in the same month of 2019.
The General Comptroller of the Republic reported that during the first month of 2020, gasoline consumption in the country, which includes 91 and 95 octanes, fell to 27.9 million gallons, 1.3% more than the 27.5 million gallons registered in January 2019.
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.
From January to October 2019, 949 million gallons of fuel were sold, and the demand for 91-octane gasoline decreased 5% over the same period in 2018.
The figures of the General Comptroller of the Republic report that during the first ten months of 2019 the consumption of gasoline in the country, which includes the 91 and 95 octane, amounted to 281 million gallons, 3% more than in the same period last year.
From January to July 2019, 673 million gallons of fuel were sold, 3% more than the 653 million gallons reported during the same period in 2018.
The figures of the General Comptroller of the Republic report that during the first seven months of 2019 the consumption of gasoline in the country, which includes the 91 and 95 octane, totaled 195 million gallons, 2% more than in the same period of the previous year.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $4.44, Nicaragua $3.61, Honduras $3.44, El Salvador $3.12, Guatemala $3.09 and Panama $2.93.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador statement:
The reference prices for gasoline and diesel add their second consecutive decline for the current fortnight, the reductions are because of increases in production and refining by U.S.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $4.38, Nicaragua $3.78, Honduras $3.53, El Salvador $3.21, Guatemala $3.24 and Panama $3.03.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador statement:
The reference prices for gasoline and diesel present important declines for the current fortnight, although the United States for several weeks had reflected losses in its reserves, in the last weekly report provided by the IEA, it is reported that increased its oil products and derivatives. Oil increased by 2.4 million barrels after 7 weeks of losses. Likewise, gasoline increased 4.4 million barrels, after two weeks of losses, together with distillates, such as diesel, showed a 1.5-million-barrel increase. The changes in reserves allowed international prices of oil derivatives to show a downward trend.
Because of the political and economic crisis affecting the country, diesel consumption in Nicaragua is reported to have fallen 5.3% between January and May compared to the same period in 2018.
Statistics of hydrocarbon sales of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) during the first five months of 2019 the consumption of super gasoline reported a 2.5% decrease compared to the same period last year, and in the case of regular gasoline registered a slight increase of 0.3% for the periods concerned.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $4.12, Nicaragua $3.82, Honduras $3.44, El Salvador $3.29, Guatemala $3.22 and Panama $3.04.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador:
The current increases in liquid fuels (gasoline and diesel) are influenced by the decrease in the extraction of oil and processing of derivatives. In the last two weeks the IEA reported a reduction in reserves of 10.58 million barrels of oil and a reduction of 3.03 million barrels of gasoline, generating uncertainty in the international market, reflected in rising prices.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $4.25, Nicaragua $3.68, Honduras $3.59, El Salvador $3.21, Guatemala $3.18 and Panama $3.14.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador statement:
The reference prices for gasoline and diesel are experiencing important reductions in their prices again, because of the good production moment that the U.S.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $4.26, Nicaragua $3.89, Honduras $3.72, El Salvador $3.42, Guatemala $3.38 and Panama $3.29.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador statement:
The current reference prices reflect a downward trend, because during the first weeks of May, reserves of gasoline and distillates show minimal reductions, this has allowed prices to be more stable compared to the previous month, since the first half of May gasoline reported a 790,000-barrel decrease, while in April for the first half reported a 10.6-million-barrel reduction. Regarding diesel distillates, during the first fortnight of May a 1.4-million-barrel decrease was reported, while for the first fortnight of April it was 2.5 million barrels, a less marked difference, which affects the price of low-sulfur diesel for the next fortnight.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Nicaragua $3.81, Costa Rica $3.76, Honduras $3.62, El Salvador $3.44, Guatemala $3.22 and Panama $3.07.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador statement:
The increase in the price of oil derivatives is because of a reduction in oil and derivatives worldwide by OPEC and non OPEC countries led by Russia, which have surpassed their own limit of 1.2 million barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day in March.
Price per gallon of regular gasoline: Costa Rica $3.51, Nicaragua $3.51, Honduras $3.31, El Salvador $2.04, Guatemala $2.96 and Panama $2.79.
From the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador report:
The upward trend in fuel prices for the current fortnight is because of reduced reserves of gasoline and distillates such as diesel reported by the IEA. In the last week the decrease in gasoline was 4.2 million barrels, the largest decline recorded in 2019.