Presentation

The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo S.A. (RECOPE) was registered as an anonymous society of private capital on December 16, 1961.  It was officially instituted as a refinery in 1963 when Congress granted the permit to build a refinery in Limon supported by the Law of industrial Protection.

In 1974 Law No. 5508 ratifies the agreement subscribed between Allied Chemical Interamerican, capital owner of RECOPE S.A., and the Government of Costa Rica to transfer the totality of the shares to the Costa Rican state, and transferring to RECOPE the responsibility of ensuring the efficient and economic distribution of oil derivates, production and import. 

The mission of the company as legally established in Law No 6588 published in La Gaceta on August 13th, 1981 is:  to refine, transport, and commercialize in bulk oil and its derivates, to maintain and develop the infrastructure required and execute, as appropriate, those development projects of the energy sector according to the National Plan of Development.  This same law called “Regulating Law” states implicitly its public interest. 

The import, refinery and wholesale distribution of crude oil and derivates in Costa Rica is part of a State monopoly.  It includes fuels, asphalts and naphtha to satisfy national demand.  This was ratified in law No. 7356 published in La Gaceta No. 170 on September 6, 1993.  The administration of this monopoly is the responsibility of RECOPE as long as the totality of the shares is owned by the Costa Rican State.

The products vended by the company must comply with the quality norms previously defined by the National Office of Norms of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC).  Furthermore, this public company is authorized to commercialize oil and its derivates overseas as long as the national supply is guaranteed.

The financial structure includes two programs:  The Program of operations, aimed at “providing the external client with the product and services in the quantity, quality, terms and places required, with high competitiveness and guaranteeing the preservation of the environment” and the Program of Investments, aimed at “providing the company with the capital goods needed for the present and future operation”.

The program of operations captures 94.4% of the budget because it includes the importation of crude and finished product, while the budget of investments represents 5.6%.

In the country the consumption of fuel is closely related to the growth of the most substantial activities of the economy, thus the activities of sale and distribution of RECOPE is a key to the economic development of the nation.

In addition to local sales, there is an active participation in the process of exports because the company supplies products to international ports and airports where it commercializes big volumes of gasoline, diesel, bunker and IFO-380 for the transportation of cargo freight and provides fuels such as jet fuel and Av-Gas to airline companies dedicated to the transportation of national and foreign tourists or to the transportation of freight. 

This way the Company actively contributes to build up the tourist industry and the promotion of aerial or maritime exports.

RECOPE provides the national industry, one of most dynamic sectors of the economy, with fuels like diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bunker and naphtas that are used as a source of energy in the processes of production.  It is also the motor of the hospitality and gastronomic activities that use LPG for the preparation of food, and it is also offered to residences as a substitute to electric energy.

As to energy, the company is strategically related to the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), supplying the diesel and bunker used in thermal plants to produce electricity as a complement to the generation produced by hydroelectric plants.