Fuel panic buying costs Govt millions

Motorists hoarding fuel last month contributed to the government paying an additional N$300 million to subsidise fuel for April.

Minister of industries, mines and energy Modestus Amutse says the government expected to pay N$500 million in March to cover under-recoveries in April through the National Energy Fund (NEF).

Under-recoveries involve the amount the government pays fuel suppliers to cover the gap between fuel prices and what consumers pay.

While announcing the new fuel prices yesterday, Amutse revealed that the cost the government had to shoulder was significantly higher than expected.

“The government, through the NEF Fuel Price Equalisation Fund, will pay a total amount of N$805 million to offset April’s cumulative under-recoveries and associated fuel premiums,” the minister said while announcing the new fuel prices yesterday.

To avoid the high cost to the government as a result of fuel hoarding, the ministry has directed service stations to only refuel customer’s vehicles directly for the next three months.

Director of energy funds Anna Libana yesterday explained that while Namibia usually consumes an average of 100 million litres of fuel per month, 125 million litres of fuel were consumed.

The additional consumption of fuel at subsidised prices will have to be covered by the energy fund.

The government will need to settle its accounts with oil importers for April within the next 15 days.

Fuel procurement premiums charged by importers also contributed to the increased cost to the government.

“These premiums, ranging between approximately N$0.50 and N$2.00 per litre, are charged above the normal landed cost of fuel into the Port of Walvis Bay due to heightened global market risks and supply uncertainties,” Amutse said.

In total, the government will spend N$300 million for April and May to cushion the impact of those premiums on consumers.

To prevent similar panic buying, the ministry has issued a new directive preventing consumers from filling additional drums and containers for the next three months.

Only customers with consumer installation certificates, such as those working in agriculture, will be allowed to fill their containers.

“Following the fuel price adjustment that came into effect on 1 April 2026, the ministry has observed ‘panic buying’ at fuel retail outlets (service stations) across the country.

[The] temporary measure is intended to discourage stockpiling, fuel hoarding and ensuring fuel remains accessible to all motorists,” Amutse said.

He said any incident of hoarding, price manipulation, or profiteering should be reported to the ministry and would be dealt with through appropriate law enforcement.

After the last fuel price announcement, some service stations reported that fuel wholesalers had refused to provide fuel at agreed-upon prices, instead holding on to fuel to benefit from increasing prices.

Amutse yesterday told The Namibian that it’s hard for the ministry to quantify the extent of that issue, but that he was confident it would not be an issue before the fuel price increase that took effect at midnight.

“We met with the industry and we have the same understanding: that fuel must not be held back.

The spirit of the industry did not indicate to me that it would be an issue,” he said.

The price of fuel for May has increased by N$1.40 per litre for petrol and N$4.63 per litre for diesel.

These increases mean that the new price of fuel at Walvis Bay will be N$23.48 per litre of petrol, N$28.26 per litre of diesel 50ppm and N$28.36 per litre of diesel 10ppm.

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