Fuel prices to increase this week
The Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that fuel prices will increase as of midnight on 05 August, when petrol will increase by N$1 (N$11.35 per litre) and diesel by 70 cents (N$11.83 per litre).
The ministry said that the price adjustments were made to ensure the orderly importation of fuel products into the country. The main factors that influenced the ministry’s decision were the exchange rate, the price per barrel, the cost of shipping and an increase in road user charges.
Product cost indicators showed that one barrel of Unleaded Petrol 95 (ULP95) traded at an average price of US$46.84, while one barrel of Diesel 50ppm traded at an average price of USD49.32.
“This indicates that the average barrel prices have increased during July 2020. This is also an indication that global demand may be gaining more-and-more momentum despite Covid-19 effects,” the ministry said in a statement released last week.
The ministry also indicated that the dealer margin for fuel service stations was adjusted in May 2020 by 50 cents per litre from 110 cents per litre to 160 cents per litre.
“This adjustment was made as a relief measure for fuel service station owners in consideration of the national lockdown and decrease in economic activities. The 50 cents relief was, granted only for three months due to national lockdown considerations. Now that the country has largely started to open-up internally, fuel consumption volumes have started to rise again, going from about 56 million litres to over 80 million litres per month in consumption,” the ministry said.
