Fuel prices set to shoot up again

THE petrol price will rise for the sixth time this year when pump prices increase by 25 cents per litre on Wednesday.

Diesel will become 20 cents per litre more expensive at the same time, the fourth increase in the price of diesel for 2009.The latest adjustment means that a litre of 95 octane unleaded petrol will cost N$7,04 at Walvis Bay, while a litre of 93 octane lead-replacement petrol (LRP) will cost N$6,96. Diesel will be N$6,93 a litre.In Windhoek, the price of unleaded will increase to N$7,25 a litre, while LRP will be N$7,17 a litre and diesel N$7,14 a litre.At Oshakati, Rundu and Katima Mulilo unleaded petrol will cost N$7,32 a litre and LRP N$7,24 a litre. Diesel will be N$7,22 a litre at Katima Mulilo and Rundu, but will cost N$7,21 a litre at Oshakati.Motorists will pay N$7,41 a litre for unleaded petrol at Keetmanshoop, N$7,33 for a litre of LRP and N$7,31 a litre for diesel.
At Noordoewer, a litre of unleaded petrol will cost N$7,49, a litre of LRP N$7,41 and a litre of diesel N$7,39.Mines and Energy Minister Erkki Nghimtina confirmed that the new prices will become effective at 00h01 on September 16.Commenting on the change on Friday, Nghimtina said the average exchange rate between the Namibia and US dollar last month depreciated slightly, while crude oil prices hovered just below US$75 a barrel ‘which means that crude oil prices continue to surge and will remain volatile in the short term’.’The international oil market continues to be defined by tension between optimism over the perceived recovery of the global economy on the one hand and persistently weak global consumption of crude oil on the other,’ the Minister said.Nghimtina said there are indications that oil consumption could be recovering outside the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).’However, this has been somewhat offset by erosion of compliance with production cuts announced by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec),’ he said.This situation resulted in higher margins of under-recoveries on the fuel price locally, Nghimtina said.However, he promised that the Ministry will continue to monitor the oil and currency markets, and ‘should there be an improvement, it will be passed on to the consumers’.