On Thursday, April 3, 2026, Panama's Secretaría Nacional de Energía published the largest bi-weekly increase of the year: 95 octane gasoline rose B/.0.111/L (from $1.144 to $1.255), and diesel advanced B/.0.148/L. In percentage terms, both moves exceeded 9.7% — an unusually large jump for Panama's regulatory mechanism.
The trigger is clear: the WTI crude rebound. After hitting four-year lows of $58/barrel on March 6 (dragged down by U.S.-China tariffs and OPEC+ output increases), WTI recovered to $64-65/barrel during the EIA reference week of March 17–21. This ~$7 rebound in just a few weeks was fully passed through to pump prices under SNE's formula, which applies Gulf of Mexico refining and transport costs.
At the ministerial meeting on April 3, OPEC+ decided to keep its production quotas unchanged for Q2 2026. Combined with U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan crude and the possibility of new Iranian oil restrictions, this maintained a price floor. EIA analysts estimated an average WTI of $64-68/barrel for Q2.
The impact on Panamanians was immediate: filling a standard 50-liter 95-octane tank cost B/.5.55 more than two weeks earlier. For a driver who fills up twice a week, that's an extra B/.22 per month — equivalent to two days' worth of basic grocery items. Freight carriers operating on diesel bore the largest absolute hit given the magnitude of the increase in that fuel.