The country’s watchdog has announced the new retail fuel prices for this month, which is said to take effect on Saturday, 08th December, 2018.
According to the ICCC’s calculations, retail prices for petrol, diesel, and kerosene will all decrease on average throughout PNG as of 08th December.
The decrease in the retail prices for the three petroleum products is mainly attributed to the decrease in the Import Parity Prices (IPP) for December.
This price decrease in the IPP has mainly been attributed to the decrease in the crude oil prices for November, 2018 as represented by Dated Brent.
However, the extent of the price decrease at the IPP level has been lessened by the increase in the international sea freight and the depreciation of the PNG kina against the US dollar during the month of November.
Moreover, the average crude oil price decrease in November was mainly attributed to increased global crude oil supplies from Iran and Saudi Arabia. Crude oil supplies from Iran has been increasing after the US decided to grant waivers on some of its sanctions previously imposed on Iran. The granting of these waivers allowed South Korea, Japan, India, China, Turkey, Taiwan, Italy, and Greece to continue importing oil from Iran for the next six months. Saudi Arabia had ramped up its oil production after the sanctions were imposed by the US. With more oil still on the market, Saudi Arabia was caught off guard by the lifting of sanctions by the US.
The domestic retail fuel prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene are inclusive of the IPPs, domestic sea and road freight rates for the last quarter of 2018, the 2018 wholesale and retail margins for petrol, diesel and kerosene; including excise duty for petrol and diesel, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
PORT MORESBY
As a result of adding all the various cost components mentioned above, the maximum retail prices for fuel in Port Moresby are as follows:
Port Moresby Retail Prices (toea per litre)
Petrol (tpl) Diesel (tpl) Kerosene (tpl)
Retail Prices as of 8th December 2018 339.24 331.58 305.92
Retail Prices as of 8th November 2018 383.43 364.74 334.19
Price Variance (+/-) toea per litre -44.18 -33.16 -28.27
Retail prices in all other designated centres will change according to their approved in-country shipping and road freight rates (for the last quarter of 2018) that are charged by the fuel wholesalers.
ALL CENTRES
For all centers, the maximum retail fuel prices for each petroleum product in the country will change on average as follows:
- Petrol prices will decrease by 44.19 toea per litre;
- Diesel prices will decrease by 33.16 toea per litre; and
- Kerosene prices will decrease by 28.27 toea per litre.
As part of the ICCC’s enforcement and compliance of fuel prices, its Investigation Officers will conduct inspections at all service stations to ensure prices of petroleum products do not exceed the allowable maximum prices.
The following ICCC officers will conduct compliance inspections in Lae, Goroka, Kokopo and Port Moresby. Inspections in other provinces will be supported by contacts in those provinces.
- Mr. Christopher Gabesoa, Mr. Seri Tau Vali, Mr. Dennis Jerry, and Mr. Bill Boiu will conduct compliance inspections of all service stations in the National Capital District. They can be reached on telephone number 325 2144;
- Ms. Pamela Ipambonj and Mr. Timothy Ponau will conduct compliance inspections in Lae. They can be reached on telephone number 472 2859;
- Mr. Bobby Tei, Roman Rosting and Mrs. Dorcas Baining Julai will conduct compliance inspections in Kokopo, Rabaul, Kerevat, Warangoi, and Toma. They can be reached on telephone number 982 9711; and
- Mr. Kevin Kondo and Mr. Jeffery Khar will conduct compliance inspections in Goroka, Kainantu, Kundiawa and Mt. Hagen. They can be reached on telephone number 532 1077.
The prices set by the ICCC are the indicative maximum retail prices, for which retailers may choose to sell below the maximum price. The ICCC would like to remind retailers who sell fuel-using pumps to set fuel prices to one decimal place while the ICCC will continue to set the maximum price to 2 decimal places.
No fuel pump operator should charge above the Indicative Retail Price for this month’s price regardless of the number of decimals. This is to ensure compliance with the Prices Regulation Act under which the maximum prices of refined petroleum products are set. Retailers who are displaying prices to 1 decimal place are urged by the ICCC to round the prices down to ensure prices are within the allowable indicative retail prices. The ICCC Inspectors will continue to conduct spot checks after 08th December 2018, to ensure on-going compliance by fuel operators.
Consumers are advised to report any instances of overcharging by retailers through the ICCC’s Consumer Protection Division on 325 2144, on toll-free number: 180 3333 or by contacting the Regional Offices.
