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."
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.
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 bunkerfuel 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.
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.
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).
At an estimated cost of $16.3 million the Costa Rican Oil Refinery is putting out to tender the construction of tanks for storing bunker fuel and asphalt.
The companies that acquired the Shell and Texaco service stations are preparing for changes in operation.
Delta Petroleum of Panama, which last year bought the assets of Shell Costa Rica will invest $4 million in renovations and changes to the brand image, said Mauricio Barzun,general manager ofDelta Petroleum Costa Rica.
The Costa Rican state electricity and fuel companies have agreed to build a terminal for the supply of bunker fuel.
From a press release by RECOPE :
The Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (RECOPE SA) and the Instituto Costarricensede Electricidad (ICE), have pledged to work together in developing the Pacific Terminal project, which will allow the country to have another alternative way to import fuel which will strengthen RECOPE’s value chain in infrastructure and reduces the risk of shortages, as well as providing an alternative supply of bunker fuel for consumption centers on the Pacific coast, in particular for electricity generation in the Garabito thermal plant.
The Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (Recope) is putting out to tender the construction of eight fuel storage tanks.
The purpose of the competitive bidding is the procurement of engineering services, labor, materials, equipment and tools and everything needed for the detailed design, supply, construction and interconnection, testing and commissioning of:
In April, Costa Rica's state-owned petrol company Recope will invite bids for the construction project.
Regarding its petrol infrastructure, the main goal of the company is to increase storage capacity to 320.000 thousand barrels in the next three years.
To achieve it, the company will invest $36 million in a series of projects to be developed in several of its distribution and storage centers in Costa Rica. These projects will be put out to tender in a single bidding process, with construction expected to start on April 2012.
In the first six months of the year $818 million was spent on oil, 60% more than the $510 million spent in the same period of 2009.
According to information from the Costa Rican Central Bank (BCCR), the increase in the number of barrels consumed was 6%, going from 8.89 million to 9.57 million.
One would be located in the north of the country, and the other to the south. The first one would cost around $3 million, and would be capable of serving 10% of the country’s demand by supplying 55 stations.
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