Gasoline price goes up
by 15 cents tomorrow
~ Diesel fuel costs 21 cents more ~
PHILIPSBURG--Drivers tanking up as of midnight tonight will have to pay fifteen guilder cents more per litre for unleaded gasoline.
This will be the third price hike since May 1. This latest increase will also mean that the price has jumped by 50 guilder cents per litre since May 1.
The diesel fuel and kerosene prices will also go up at midnight.
The latest increases were announced last night by Economic Affairs Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus.
As of 11:58pm, gasoline will cost NAf. 2.10 per litre, the highest it has ever been. The price had stood at NAf. 1.95 since June 6.
The first price increase for the year took effect just over a month before that – on May 1 – and saw the price move from NAf. 1.60 to NAf. 1.80 per litre. The former price was the result of a decrease that took effect in November 2006.
This latest increase, signed off by the Executive Council, has been tagged to the skyrocketing world oil prices. Oil now costs about US $100 per barrel, a steady increase from January when it was $55 per barrel.
Diesel fuel users now have to pay NAf. 1.90 per litre, an increase of 21 guilder cents over the June 6 price. Kerosene now costs NAf. 1.90 per litre, up by 40 guilder cents from the June price of NAf. 1.50.
In a press release issued last evening, Buncamper-Molanus said that despite the ever-increasing prices globally, government had refrained from approving a price hike “for almost half a year.”
“Government can no longer put off an increase in fuel prices. Oil prices have been hitting record highs spurred by tensions between Turkey and Iraq and (between) the U.S. and Iran. Our island is not the only one going through this. The majority of nations around the world, with the exception of the oil-producing countries, have to deal with uncertainty within world oil markets,” she said.
She continued: “I do hope that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will increase its output to help calm record crude prices that had threatened to breach $100 a barrel two weeks ago. OPEC produces about 40 per cent of the world oil and their increase in output could make a significant difference, resulting in government being able to lower local fuel prices.”
