After a streak of six consecutive price hikes over three months that pushed the country’s most consumed fuels near the RD$400 per gallon threshold, the Dominican Republic has put a temporary stop to rising gasoline costs as of the first week of June.
To start 2026, Premium gasoline was priced at RD$290.10 per gallon, while Regular gasoline retailed for RD$272.50. Prices held steady through January and February, supported by a RD$71.9 million government subsidy that carried over 2025’s closing rates into the new year. That stability ended in March, when shifting global crude oil market conditions forced regulators to pass international cost increases onto domestic consumers.
The first wave of increases hit in the second week of March, when the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and MSMEs (MICM) implemented a RD$5 per gallon rise for both fuel grades. A second RD$10 per gallon hike followed just one week later, bringing total March increases to RD$15 for both Premium and Regular gasoline.
In April, regulators approved one additional adjustment: a RD$9 per gallon rise for Premium and a RD$7 per gallon rise for Regular. After this increase, Premium climbed to RD$314.10 per gallon, while Regular reached RD$294.50.
May brought the steepest monthly gains, even as public outcry grew over the spillover effects of rising fuel costs on transportation, food prices, and other core consumer sectors. Over the course of the month, MICM ordered three separate hikes, adding a cumulative RD$21 per gallon to Premium and RD$13 per gallon to Regular. The step-by-step increases broke down to RD$9, RD$8, and RD$4 for Premium, and RD$7, RD$4, and RD$2 for Regular. By the end of May, cumulative increases from March had reached RD$45 per gallon for Premium and RD$35 per gallon for Regular, putting both grades on a clear trajectory toward the RD$400 per gallon mark.
When the new pricing round took effect this week, the government announced an unexpected pause: Premium and Regular gasoline will remain frozen at RD$335.10 and RD$307.50 per gallon, respectively. The price freeze also extends to other common fuels, including premium and regular diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and natural gas, all of which will hold at their late May rates. LPG will continue to retail for RD$137.20 per gallon.
Alongside the gasoline price freeze, MICM ordered targeted price cuts for four lesser-used fuel products: aviation fuel (Aatur), kerosene, fuel oil, and 1% sulfur fuel oil. Starting June 2, aviation fuel will drop by RD$5.90 to a new price of RD$271.12 per gallon, while kerosene will decrease by RD$6.40 to RD$308.30 per gallon.