RECOPE

What RECOPE does

RECOPE (Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo S.A.) is a Costa Rican state-owned petroleum company founded in 1961 and operating since 1963. The company holds a legal monopoly on the importation and refining of petroleum products in Costa Rica, codified in Law 5508, and supplies approximately 70% of the country's commercial energy. Its operations are vertically integrated across the National Fuel System: importing crude and refined products through the Atlantic port terminal at Moín, refining at the Moín refinery, and distributing through the only multi-product pipeline (Poliducto) in Central America, which spans from Moín (Limón) on the Atlantic coast to Barranca (Puntarenas) on the Pacific, with intermediate terminals at El Alto de Ochomogo (Cartago) and La Garita (Alajuela). Final distribution reaches more than 300 service stations, plus direct supply to the state electricity utility ICE for thermal generation.

RECOPE's product portfolio centers on physical petroleum products: regular and premium gasoline (Plus 91, Super), low-sulfur diesel at 15 ppm (the cleanest in Central America), bunker fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Supporting services include metrological calibration, quality certificate consultation, and the Petroweb e-commerce platform, which enables online fuel sales, pre-billing, and SINPE digital payment integration for commercial clients. The company operates INTE-ISO/IEC 17025:2005-accredited testing laboratories and an integrated health, environment, and safety management system (SIGAS&S). It has also initiated experimental hydrogen production and storage R&D with Ad Astra Rocket at 700-bar pressure, signaling early positioning in alternative fuels.

RECOPE generates revenue primarily through regulated fuel sales, with prices set by ARESEP under a 'service cost' principle that passes through international market conditions, import costs, taxes, and a margin. The company supplements operating revenue with standardized bond issuances registered with SUGEVAL — a US$200 million program for domestic and Central American placement — used to finance strategic capex including the SAGAS LPG storage system and Moín port terminal dredging. End customers are concentrated in Costa Rica only, segmented across service stations (retail), industrial and commercial users, and ICE (thermal power generation).

Name

RECOPE

Legal name

Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo S.A.

Website

https://recope.go.cr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

RECOPE is Costa Rica's state-owned petroleum refining and distribution monopoly, importing, refining, and distributing gasoline, diesel, LPG, and bunker fuel through the only integrated pipeline system in Central America to over 300 service stations and the national electric utility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San José

HQ country

Costa Rica

HQ region

Latin America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fuel Sales: Sales revenues from importing, refining and distributing petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, bunker fuel, LPG) to service stations, industrial customers, and ICE for electricity generation. Prices are set by ARESEP under a 'service cost' principle.
2. Bond Financing: Standardized bond issuance program registered with SUGEVAL for up to US$200 million in domestic and Central American market placements to finance strategic investment projects including port terminals and storage infrastructure.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RECOPE is the Costa Rican state-owned petroleum company that holds a monopoly on the importation, refining, and wholesale distribution of petroleum products in Costa Rica. The company produces and supplies gasoline (Plus 91, Super), diesel, bunker fuel, LPG, and other refined products through an integrated pipeline network connecting its refinery in Moín to four distribution terminals and over 300 service stations nationwide. It also operates Petroweb, an online platform for commercial fuel sales with SINPE digital payment integration.

Product overview

RECOPE operates as Costa Rica's state-owned petroleum company managing a vertically integrated fuel supply system. The company imports, refines, and distributes petroleum products including gasoline (Plus 91, Super), diesel, bunker, and LPG. Its infrastructure includes a unique pipeline network (Poliducto) spanning from Moín to Barranca with four distribution terminals, and the Atlantic Port Terminal at Moín for hydrocarbon imports. Digital services include Petroweb for online fuel sales and quality certificate consultation. The company provides metrological calibration services and maintains quality assurance laboratories. The product portfolio centers on physical fuel products supported by distribution infrastructure and customer-facing digital platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gasoline Plus 91 Regular grade gasoline product (Plus 91) refined and distributed by RECOPE for retail and commercial use throughout Costa Rica.
• Super Gasoline
• Low-Sulfur Diesel (maximum 15 ppm) High-quality diesel with maximum 15 ppm sulfur content - the lowest in the Central American region - for retail, commercial, and industrial use, including thermal electricity generation by ICE.
• Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) product distributed by RECOPE for residential, commercial, and industrial use, with storage capacity of 150 thousand barrels via the SAGAS storage system.
• Bunker Fuel Heavy fuel oil (bunker) for marine and industrial use, distributed by RECOPE.
• Petroweb Online Fuel Sales Platform
• Quality Certificates (Certificados de Calidad) Online consultation service providing quality testing and verification documentation for RECOPE's petroleum products, accessible to customers through the company website.
• Metrological Calibration Services (Servicios Metrológicos de Calibración) Metrological calibration services for masses and volumetric containers, ensuring measurement accuracy in fuel distribution operations, offered to commercial and industrial customers.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ad Astra RocketcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2013Cooperation alliance for hydrogen research and development. Phase B project for 'Experimental system for production, compression and storage of gas at minimum 700 bar pressure' for use as alternate fuel source in Costa Rican transportation. RECOPE provided US$1.4 million in human and financial resources.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Puma Energy: Puma Energy is a multinational downstream fuel marketer active across Central America, with branded retail stations and bulk fuel supply to industrial and transport customers in Costa Rica and neighboring countries. Its product offering (gasoline, diesel, LPG, lubricants) and channel mix directly overlap RECOPE's downstream portfolio.
• Terpel: Terpel is the largest fuel distributor in Colombia and a major downstream fuel retailer across Latin America. Like RECOPE, it operates wholesale fuel distribution and service-station networks (under branded retail) within a regulated environment, making it the closest functional analog at the wholesale/retail fuel interface.

Broad incumbents

• Pemex: Petróleos Mexicanos is Mexico's state-owned integrated oil company with refining and fuel distribution operations subject to government price controls. While vastly larger, it shares RECOPE's state-monopoly structure and regulatory-pricing model for refined products.
• Petroperú: Petroperú is Peru's state-owned petroleum company operating refineries and a national fuel distribution network. Comparable to RECOPE in its vertically integrated state-owned structure and monopoly-like control of domestic fuel supply.
• Copec: Compañía de Petróleos de Chile (Copec) is a major Latin American downstream fuel distributor with a vast service-station network and fuel logistics operations. Although operating under a different ownership model and geographies, Copec parallels RECOPE in its vertically integrated fuel import, distribution, and retail footprint.
• PetroEcuador: PetroEcuador is Ecuador's state-owned petroleum company engaged in refining and downstream fuel distribution. It is comparable in structure to RECOPE as a state enterprise that imports/refines and distributes fuels domestically under government oversight.
• YPF: YPF is Argentina's leading integrated energy company with significant downstream fuel distribution activities, including a major service-station network. While not state-monopolistic like RECOPE, YPF parallels RECOPE in operating a vertically integrated fuel value chain in a regulated Latin American market.

Regional players

• Tropigas / Grupo Terra: Tropigas and the broader Grupo Terra family are Central American LPG and fuel distributors operating across multiple countries in the region. Their LPG storage and distribution business in particular overlaps with RECOPE's SAGAS LPG operations.
• Empresa Nacional de Energía (ENESA) Honduras / Uno Honduras: Uno is a regional fuel distributor in Honduras and Central America operating a comparable downstream fuel marketing business across borders. While RECOPE is a state monopoly and Uno operates commercially, both function as integrated regional fuel suppliers serving Central American retail and industrial customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/recope_cr
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/recopevideos?feature=results_main
• Facebookfacebook.com/recopecr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/recope-cr/?originalSubdomain=cr
• Instagraminstagram.com/recope_cr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RECOPE