Samuel Shinedima
DIESEL motorists formed long queues this morning to indulge in the reduced diesel price.
All diesel pumps around the country adjusted downwards by N$1.25 accordingly as of today, 7 December 2022 while the petrol price remains unchanged.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Informanté visited several service stations in Windhoek to observe and engage motorists and petrol attendants on the recently reduced diesel price. Some of the long-distance motorists expressed that the N$1.25 reduction on the diesel price brought so much relief to them, as they will save roughly N$600.00 per month, which according to them, can be used on other necessities.
According to the Mines and Energy Ministry, the downward revision in the fuel prices is accorded to a number of reasons, adding that rising Covid-19 cases in China, ambiguity about the G7 oil price cap and a rise in U.S oil stocks have put downward pressure on oil prices over the course of November 2022, especially diesel prices.
The Ministry further said that calculations, the average price for Unleaded Petrol 95 over the period of 1 to 25 November 2022 stood at USD 105.863 per barrel (compared to USD 100.766 per barrel at the end of October 2022), a moderate increase of about USD5 over the review period.
It means that the average price for Diesel 50 ppm over the period of 01-25 November 2022 is at USD131.260 per barrel, (compared to USD 142.054 per barrel at the of October 2022), a significant decrease of about USD11 per barrel over the review period.
Furthermore, it is established that the exchange rate figures for the period of 1 to 25 November 2022 indicate that the Namibian dollar has appreciated against the USD at 17.5082 per USD, compared to 18.1048 per USD at the end of October 2022.
The mines ministry is of the view that this currency appreciation contributes to fuel price over-recoveries and has had a positive effect in terms of the pockets of local fuel consumers.
In light of the above, the ministry recorded a combination of a low under-recovery on petrol and a high over-recovery on diesel, namely an under-recovery of 9 cents per litre on petrol and an over-recovery of 125 cents per litre on diesel.
