Africa-Press – Eswatini. Motorists must once again brace themselves for another steep fuel price hike at midnight today.
This is because government, through the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy Dorcas Dlamini, has announced another fuel price hike.
According to the PS, the price of petrol will increase by E1.40 per litre, whilst diesel and paraffin price will increase by E1.60 per litre. Dlamini said the new fuel price would come into effect at midnight today and will be effective tomorrow.
Through a statement released by the ministry yesterday, Dlamini explained that the reason for the fuel price increase was mainly the international crude oil price which increased and reached an average of US$92.20 per barrel in the month of February, with the highest level being US$100 per barrel realised in mid-February, for the first time since September 2014.
“The situation of increasing oil prices is exacerbated by the decline in the crude oil supply due to low crude oil production by the members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the geopolitical tensions in the Arab Gulf region and the Russian-Ukrainian war.
As a result, the fuel supply continues to lag behind the demand recovery,” she said. Dlamini said alongside the crude oil price increase, the lilangeni/dollar exchange rate slightly appreciated and averaged E15.25 in the month of February compared to an average of E15.60 realised in the month of January.
She further stated that the persistently high crude oil prices coupled with the slight appreciation of the lilangeni/US Dollar exchange rate has yielded huge under-recoveries (losses) in the fuel products to the value of E2 per litre.
In addition, Dlamini said whilst the ministry had increased fuel prices in the past year, the increases were partial (not by the full impact of the market costs).
This, she said, was to protect the economy from the high fuel prices which are inflationary.
Dlamini said after cushioning the fuel price in the past year, 2021/2022, the Strategic Oil Reserve Fund balance has depleted and the current situation of the spiralling international oil prices is making the situation worse.
Currently, the price of unleaded petrol (ULP 95) is E17.15 per litre, but after the E1.40 hike, it will cost E18.55 per litre.
The price of diesel will increase from E17.00 to E18.60 per litre, while paraffin shall increase from E11.75 to E13.35 per litre.
Meanwhile, this is a third fuel hike which government has announced within a space of four months.
Government announced the first fuel hike on November 8, 2021; while on December I, government announced a second fuel hike which was preceded by the recent fuel hike.
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