Slight relief for motorists at the pump

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Slight relief for motorists at the pump

Fuel prices will decrease with 100 cents to N$20.08 per litre for petrol, while diesel will remain at N$22.12 per litre, effective this Wednesday.

The energy ministry in its latest fuel review said oil prices continued to fall throughout September 2022.

“The current prices signify the lowest level since January 2022 amid rising fears that a looming economic downturn will hurt global demand in energy markets,” said Andreas Simon, the ministry’s spokesperson.

The latest calculations by the ministry indicate that the average price for unleaded petrol 95 for 01 to 23 September 2022 is at US$98.794 per barrel (compared to US$110.334 per barrel at the end of August 2022), a huge decrease of about US$12 over the review
period.

Additionally, the average price for diesel 50ppm from 1 to 23 September 2022 is at US$133.675 per barrel (compared to US$136.360 per barrel at the end of August 2022), a much lower decrease of about US$3 per barrel over the review period.

“Furthermore, the exchange rate figures for the period of 1 to 23 September 2022 indicate that the NAD has depreciated against the US$ at N$17.4573 per US$ (compared to N$16.6985 per US$ at the end of August 2022). This currency depreciation hurts the import parity price calculations and the local pump prices of fuel,” stated Simon.

He said: “After entering the above input factors into the fuel pricing model, the ministry recorded a combination of a high over-recovery on petrol and a low under-recovery on diesel, namely an over-recovery of 234 cents per litre on petrol and an under-recovery of about 33 cents per litre on diesel.”

The ministry has also resolved to reinstate the road user charges and the MVA levy back to their original levels while the Namcor levy will remain at its current level until further notice.

MVA Fund yesterday said fuel levies are fixed at 47.7 cents per litre. This has been the case since 2013.

According to the fund, when the increases or decreases come, it is usually based on the overall under-recoveries that are made by the National Energy Fund.

–   psiririka@nepc.com.na

 

Caption: (Petrol) Going down… The petrol price will decrease by N$1.00 on 5 October.

Photo: Contributed