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14
RECOPEANNUALREPORT2014
United States Gulf Coast (USGC) is the reference market for Costa Rica.
RECOPE, petroleum state owned company of Costa Rica, imported 93,73% of the
consumed products in 2014 from this area. USGC has more than 40%of the refinery
capacity of United States with the main refineries and export centers located in this
area.
Up until the year 2010, the international reference price used in the
region was the crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Its main trade and distribution
center is located in Cushing, Oklahoma. However, the lack of facilities for transport
and distribution of the product from the different production centers to theUSGC and
the increase in crudes to be processed by the refineries in the same area, resulted in
a replacement of the oil price reference for Brent.
On 2014, the global energy market presented changes; during the first
semester international prices remained relative high but in the second there was a
sustained decrease in prices.
Internationalmarket
Importations
Additionally, by the end of 2014 different events in the international market
occurred causing the fall in prices, as detailed below:
An over-supplied market, a demand/global economy on a standstill and a
stronger dollar seems to be the main reason for the constant fall in prices
experienced during the last weeks of the year on the international market.
Oil production does not stop, the United States has reached a record
production of nearly 9million barrels/day, and Libya and Iraq have increased
and managed to maintain its production.
Moreover, countries such as Ecuador and Venezuela, with very high
production costs and Bahrein, Oman, Nigeria and Russia, have been badly
affected by the very low prices, as their national budgets are based on your
income for this item.