Georgetown: Government is coming under immense pressure to lower the prices for fuel at the Guyoil Gas Stations across the country as world market oil prices continue to tumble, with US crude settling within range of a new six-and-a-half year low.
Chairman of the Trade and Investment Committee of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Dookhoo, pointed out that having cheaper fuel in Guyana can aid in the process of stimulating the economy, and as such, urged Government to work towards this.
Minister of Governance and Patrimony, Raphael Trotman already indicated that Government would consider slashing the prices for fuel at the Guyoil Gas Stations if the trend continued, but no action has been taken up to this time. Analysts speculate that the Government would hold off as long as it can so that the extra revenues it secures from Guyoil would swell its revenue stream. However, in the meantime, consumers are spending larger amounts on their gasoline and lessening their purchasing power on other essentials.
“It will put more money into the economy and what we need in this point in time, significantly lower the cost of living… it will mean more disposal income, people pay less for fuel and have more money to do other stuff and this is what we need at this point in time,” Dookhoo said.
Former Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali, who also held the portfolio of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, during the 2015 Budget Debate on Monday, had already challenged the Government to slash oil prices, if it was truly committed to its promise to deliver “a good life” for all. “Budget 2015 is presented when the price of oil has tumbled yet we hear of no reduction in the electricity tariff for the ordinary Guyanese,” the former Tourism Minister declared.
Recently, oil prices fell below US$42 per barrel, the lowest it has been since March 2009.
Oil has lost about a third of its value since June.
Experts have already predicted that this progressive trend will last until yearend, resulting in oil and gas exploration companies cutting back on spending and cheaper fuel at pump stations across the world. While Guyana has experienced ExxonMobil halting its oil exploration off the Essequibo Coast, the country has not experienced the price plunge in gasoline.
At Guyoil Gas Stations, the price for gasoline stands at $210 per litre, the price for diesel stands at $174.7 per litre. At Shell Gas Stations, the prices are currently $229 per litre of gasoline and $188.5 per litre of diesel. At the Rubis Gas Stations, the price currently stands at $225.9 per litre for gasoline and $187.9 per litre for diesel.
When oil prices had drastically fallen in January, gas stations across the country, amid public pressure, slashed the local prices for fuel by some 30 per cent.
However, this turned out to be a fleeting experience for consumers as prices began to slowly increase in mid-March.
International oil prices began to climb around May, but drastically fell again in July. Since then, prices have been fluctuating, although there have been no major increases or decreases until they crashed to below US$42 per barrel on Monday.
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