New retail fuel prices announced

The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) has announced the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect on January 8, 2018.

According to the ICCC’s calculations, retail fuel prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene will increase throughout PNG as of 8^th January, 2018.

“These price increases are attributed to the increases in the Import Parity Prices (IPP) for this month. Furthermore, the increases in the IPP are attributed to the increases in the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene during the month of December, 2017,” ICCC said in a statement.

“Increases in the MOPS prices are attributed to the increases in crude oil prices during the month of December, 2017. The retail price increase particularly for diesel is attributed in the increase in its excise duty in 2018 from 10 toea to 23 toea per litre.”

The domestic retail fuel prices are inclusive of the IPP, domestic sea and road freight rates for the first quarter of 2018, 2018 wholesale and retail margins for petrol, diesel and kerosene; including excise duty for petrol and diesel, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

As a result of adding all the various cost components, the table below shows the maximum retail prices for fuel that are to be sold in Port Moresby.

Port Moresby Retail Prices (toea per litre)
	Petrol (tpl)	Diesel (tpl)	Kerosene (tpl)
Retail Prices as of 8th January, 2018	346.92	308.76	280.47 ““Increases in the MOPS prices are attributed to the increases in crude oil prices during the month of December, 2017.”
Retail Prices as of 8th December, 2017	343.29	286.12	273.94
Price Variance (+/-) toea per litre	+3.63	+22.64	+6.53

As stated above, for this month the retail fuel prices in the National Capital District will change as follows:

• Petrol prices will increase by 3.63 toea per litre;
• Diesel prices will increase by 22.64 toea per litre; and
• Kerosene prices will increase by 6.53 toea per litre.

Retail prices in all other designated centres will change according to their approved in-country shipping and road freight rates (for the first quarter of 2018) that are charged by the fuel distributors.

As part of the ICCC’s enforcement and compliance of fuel prices, its investigation officers will conduct inspections at all service stations on Monday, January 8, to ensure prices of petroleum products do not exceed the allowable maximum prices.

The prices set by the ICCC are the indicative maximum retail prices, for which retailers may choose to sell below the maximum price.

“Again, the ICCC would like to remind retailers who sell fuel using pumps to set fuel prices to one decimal place while the ICCC will continue to set the maximum price to 2 decimal places,” said Avi Hubert, acting chief executive officer.

“No fuel pump operator should charge above the Indicative Retail Price for this month’s price regardless of the number of decimals. This is to ensure compliance with the Prices Regulation Act under which the maximum prices of refined petroleum products are set.

“Retailers who are displaying prices to 1 decimal place are urged by the ICCC to round the prices down to ensure prices are within the allowable indicative retail prices. The ICCC inspectors will continue to conduct spot checks after 8^th January to ensure ongoing compliance by fuel operators.”

Consumers are advised to report any instances of overcharging by retailers through the ICCC’s Consumer Protection Division on 325 2144 or on toll free number 180 3333.