High Fuel Pump Prices: Who is in charge?

By Our Reporter

The global oil prices have plummeted to US$40 a barrel, down from US$115 a barrel in June 2014. Even though prices are beginning to pick up, analysts predict generally low prices to persist for at least two years.

This in essence means fuel pump prices and transport costs should be seen falling globally, a development that will also reduce the cost of doing business for the business community.
In Uganda, we have seen gasoline prices fall from an average of Ush3800 in December to Ush3500 or thereabouts per litre while in Rwanda, the price has dropped to about Ush3,674.

For diesel, the price has come down to about Ush2,850 from about Ush3300 or thereabouts and the question a lot of motorists ask is why the price has remained high. In Kenya, a litre of gasoline averages Ush2,947.

Early this year, oil players blamed the old stock imported on the price staying high while prices were still high and depreciation of the shilling against the dollar as the major factors why fuel prices were still high in Uganda then.

Hans Paulsen, MD at Vivo Energy Uganda, the retailers and marketers of Shell branded products said,

“The world oil prices (Platts) are one key determinant, as well as the cost of bringing the goods into the country, the strength of the Uganda Shilling, among others,