By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK Fuel prices countrywide will remain the same as announced mid-January 2007, the Ministry of Mines and Energy has said. The price of fuel on the 19th January 2007 went down by 22 cents per litre for petrol and 12 cents per litre for diesel. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Joseph Iita, indicated in a statement released last Friday that crude oil prices are likely to remain volatile because oil prices rebounded at the beginning of this month from a sharp drop of more than two to three US dollars per barrel. Moderate US temperatures and expectations that there would be a surplus in crude oil markets spurred this situation. Oil prices also hovered above US$59 per barrel on the 13th February, 2007 following International Energy Agency’s forecast of a strong increase in global demand this year, particularly in China, and a winter storm sweeping through the US Mid-West into North-East which consumes about 80 percent of the nation’s heating oil. Based on these factors, “… it is expected that crude oil prices will remain volatile and any little imbalance can result in large swings in crude oil prices”, the statement reads. Last month’s reduction in the revised fuel prices was due to changes in crude oil prices worldwide and fluctuations in the value of the US dollar against other major currencies, which ultimately play a very important role in determining fuel price at the pump. The Walvis Bay fuel pump prices for controlled petroleum products, petrol and diesel remain reduced by 22 cents per litre for 93 octane lead replacement petrol as well as for 95 octane unleaded. Also, diesel will remain reduced by 12 cents per litre on a wholesale price. This means that Walvis Bay pump prices still stand at N$5,80 per litre 93 octane leaded replacement petrol, N$5,82 per litre for 95 octane unleaded petrol and N$5,96 per litre for diesel. The ministry warns that, although recent and prevailing softening of the international crude oil prices has improved the negative slate under-recovery and the situation in the local market, extra precaution should be taken to avoid backtracking into the past devastating situation which has been prevailing over the past two years in the local oil industry. “A lesson has been learnt that high oil prices experienced in the third and fourth quarters of 2006 have hurt many countries in Africa, Namibia included”, the statement reads. Due to oil supply instability experienced for some time globally, some countries on the continent have resorted to fuel rationing while others, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, lack abundant foreign exchange reserves to purchase enough oil products at the ever-increasing oil prices. According to the statement, “The Ministry of Mines and Energy, as a regulator of fuel prices, would like to take precautionary measures in order to avoid a situation where Namibia, a net importer of petroleum products, falls into such a dire situation where a country could resort to limiting its imports or rationing its existing fuel supplies”.