Justicia ShipenaÂ
Motorists will breathe a sigh of relief on Wednesday as fuel prices are set to drop.
The Ministry of Mines, Industry, and Energy announced on Friday that petrol and diesel prices will decrease.
Petrol will drop by 30 cents per litre, while both 50 ppm diesel and 10ppm diesel will go down by 70 cents per litre.
The new pump prices at Walvis Bay will be N$20.37 per litre for petrol 95, N$19.92 for 50 ppm diesel, and N$20.02 for 10 ppm diesel.
According to the ministry, during May, diesel prices declined globally due to oversupply concerns and reduced demand.
OPEC+ signalled a possible increase in production, raising fears of a saturated market.
The ministry said trade tensions and economic uncertainty also weighed on crude demand. Crude oil prices fell below US$80 per barrel.
At the same time, freight and demurrage costs for clean tanker vessels increased. This was due to new U.S. sanctions on Russia and a rise in Middle Eastern oil shipments to Asia.
These shipping costs placed pressure on refined fuel logistics, despite falling diesel prices.
The ministry said the average price of petrol 95 between 1 and 22 May was $78.195 per barrel, a 0.58% increase from April’s average of $77.74. Diesel ppm averaged US$78.22 per barrel over the same period, down 3.02% from $80.66 in April.
The Namibian dollar also strengthened against the US dollar. From 1 to 22 May, the average exchange rate was N$18.2120 per USD, a 3.66% appreciation compared to April’s rate of N$18.90.
This improvement, the ministry said, helped reduce the cost of fuel imports.
In the same month, the fuel pricing model recorded over-recoveries of 36.46 cents per litre for petrol, 79.60 cents for 50 ppm diesel, and 87.38 cents for 10 10ppm diesel.
Last month, the country’s fuel prices remained unchanged.
