TANZANIA: FUEL PRICES GO DOWN FURTHER NATIONWIDE

A filling station attendant refuels a motorist’s vehicle at a Dar es Salaam outlet. Tanzanian consumers wonder why they are experiencing no relief in buying a product whose price in the world market has fallen by 40 per cent. Ewura says prices might go down effective February.

Dar es Salaam. The Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) yesterday announced a significant reduction in fuel prices.

Prices are lowest in Dar es Salaam and its environs, where a litre of petrol will for the next month be selling for Sh1,955, down from Sh2,029, according to Ewura Director General Felix Ngalamgosi. This translates into a price reduction of Sh74.

The price of a litre of diesel is down by Sh63 and the fuel now sells for Sh1,846 instead of Sh1,909

Kerosene, which previously retailed for Sh1,888 a litre, is now down to Sh1,833, with consumers saving Sh55 on every litre they buy.

Fuel prices are still highest in Uvinza District, Kigoma Region, where a litre of petrol now retails for Sh2,198, down from Sh2,272. Diesel is down from Sh2,152 to Sh2,089, while kerosene now retails at Sh2,076 from Sh2,131.

The price of a litre of petrol has fallen by Sh312 in Dar es Salaam between last September and this month, a reflection of the plummeting oil prices in the world market, Mr Ngalamgosi told a news conference yesterday.

However, the 16 per cent fall compares poorly with an average reduction of 25 per cent globally between July and November 2014.

Diesel prices have fallen by an average of 28 per cent globally, but the reduction locally has been only 13 per cent, or Sh244 per litre, during the same period.

Despite kerosene prices having fallen by about 24 per cent in the world market, the fall locally was 11 per cent, or Sh207 per litre.

But Mr Ngalamgosi added that the price reductions announced yesterday reflected last November’s global crude prices.

“We need to understand that the prices we are announcing today reflect the November crude prices in the world market. It takes more than a month for imported fuel to be ready to be sold locally. This means that it takes a while for the impact of global price changes to be felt locally,” he said.

Mr Ngalamgosi added that it should also be noted that Tanzania imports refined petroleum products, which cost much more than crude.

Crude prices have halved in the world market in the last six months.

Oil prices slid again yesterday to their lowest point for more than five and a half years, plagued once again by a global supply glut, demand fears and the soaring dollar.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February tanked to $48.49 a barrel, touching a low last witnessed in late April 2009.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February dived to $51.23 per barrel, the lowest level since early May of the same year.

Crude was trading at a high as $100 per barrel before declining to its current rates following an economic downturn in Europe, geopolitics in the US and Russia as well as increased use of alternative renewable energy across the globe.

Tanzania has been a net importer of refined petroleum products since 2000 when the country’s only refinery was closed down.

The Citizen