Effective this week Anguillian motorists are benefiting from as much as a 19.89% reduction in the price of gasoline at the pump thanks to the persistence of the DOVE Party and the support and cooperation of the Honourable Chief Minister of Anguilla Mr. Hubert Hughes, SOL and Delta the two petrol suppliers on the island.
The DOVE Party has been monitoring the downward trend in the price of crude oil prices on the world market since June of this year and waited to see how long it would take for lower prices to be reflected at the pumps across the island. Since June of this year crude oil prices declined from a high of U.S. $107.00 per barrel (42 U.S. Gallons) to U.S. $74.00 per barrel late last week. This represents a reduction of over 30%. While crude oil prices on the world market fluctuates regularly, the price has been trading below $80.00 per barrel for some time now. The forecast is for oil prices to remain low for the foreseeable future even though OPEC will be have a meeting over the next few days to determine the pricing strategy to be used for going forward.
With the plummet of crude oil prices on the world market, it was important that consumers here in Anguilla realise relief at the pump. To this end, the DOVE Party wrote to the two petrol suppliers on the island last week, namely, SOL and Delta making the case to have lower prices at the pump(see letters below). Additionally, the DOVE Party also made the case to the Hon. Chief Minister soliciting his intervention to have the price of petrol lowered to the benefit of consumers(see letter below).
As was stated in the letter to the Hon. Chief Minister, the 30% reduction in crude oil prices should result in a larger discount in the price of electricity from Anglec as opposed to the 9% passed on to consumers recently. It is critical that Anglec passes on the full savings they are receiving on the price of petrol to consumers, as the rate of electricity is a major contributor to the cost of living in Anguilla. The price of electricity affects the price of food in the grocery store, it affects the profitability of a restaurant, and the running cost of most businesses that use computers, air conditioning, lights and other machines.
As was also stated in the letter to the Hon. Chief Minister, it is very important that consumers are protected from any form of price gouging through effective and efficient price regulation. In order to ensure that this does not happen, crude oil prices need to be monitored regularly and the price per gallon of every new supply of petrol that comes on island needs to be compared against the movement of world market prices. Furthermore, It is important to monitor the price of petrol offered by other suppliers within the subregion as a means of safeguarding consumers against paying excessive prices.
The DOVE Party stands vigilant to monitor the movement of crude oil prices on the world market to ensure that consumers here in Anguilla are protected. It is important to state that the two main suppliers of petrol on the island, SOL and Delta are doing an excellent job keeping the island supplied with petrol. However, because of the importance of petrol to the island and the sensitivity of petrol prices to the cost of living in Anguilla, Government needs to have a close working relationship with these suppliers.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
