Africa-Press – Namibia. THE price of petrol, diesel 50ppm, and diesel 10ppm will remain unchanged for the month of November.
This means that the price of petrol in Walvis Bay will remain at N$22.88, while diesel 50ppm and diesel 10ppm will stay at N$23.15 and N$23.35 per litre respectively, and the prices across the rest of the country will also remain stable.
This was announced by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which explained that this decision was influenced by a number of factors. These factors include the drop in oil prices in October, the decrease in the supply of diesel, and the rise in the foreign exchange burden associated with importing fuel into Namibia.
The ministry explained that oil prices experienced a significant decline of more than 5.00 US Dollars (USD) in October due to a decrease in fuel demand. This, the ministry said, outweighed the decision made by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) to maintain a reduction in oil production, thereby keeping the supply constrained.
“The supply of diesel, which serves as a proxy of demand, fell to around 8 million barrels per day (bpd), its lowest point since the beginning of the year. Additionally, crude oil prices declined approximately by USD10.00,” the ministry explained.
According to the ministry’s latest calculations, the average price of Unleaded Petrol 95 during October is USD 97.400 per barrel, compared to USD 112.646 per barrel at the end of September. The ministry said that this indicates a decrease of about USD 15.00 per barrel, equivalent to 13.5%.
“Moreover, the average price of Diesel 50ppm during October 2023 is at USD118.816 per barrel compared to USD125.347 per barrel at the end of September 2023, a decrease of about USD6.00 per barrel or 5.2%. In addition, the average price of diesel 10ppm during October 2023 is at USD119.648 per barrel compared to USD126.353 per barrel at the end of September 2023, decreasing with USD6.00 per barrel or 5.3%,” the ministry added.
Additionally, the ministry emphasized that exchange rate data from October 1 to October 23 reveals a 0.57% devaluation of the Namibian Dollar (NAD) against the USD, with a rate of N$19.1032 per USD, as opposed to N$18.9938 per USD at the conclusion of September 2023. The ministry noted that this devaluation has added to the foreign exchange challenges in importing fuel to Namibia.
“Hence, upon incorporating all the input factors into the fuel pricing model, the ministry noted an over-recovery of 148 cents per litre on petrol and under-recoveries of 33 cents and 23 cents per litre on diesel 50ppm and diesel 10ppm respectively,” the ministry revealed.
Considering this, the ministry decided to keep the prices of petrol and both diesel products unchanged, while the National Energy Fund absorbs the diesel grades under-recoveries.
“The ministry intends to maintain fuel prices which align to fluctuations in the market, with the primary goal of safeguarding the nation’s fuel supply. Given this, we hold optimism that the circumstances will remain positive in the near future,” the ministry said.
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