After months of having to swallow higher fuel costs, motorists will today see a lower price at Texaco service stations, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry Alphaeus Forbes announced yesterday.
But Mr. Forbes could not say whether Shell and Esso are expected to also lower their prices and it also remained unclear why Texaco made the move to lower the price.
The price of a gallon of gasoline at Texaco stations is now expected to be $3.82, a drop from $4.95.
Several weeks ago, the company announced that it was absorbing a substantial portion of the increase in the price of its fuel cargo. It wasn’t long before the other oil companies also announced cost-cutting measures aimed at getting costs lower.
Minister of Trade and Industry Leslie Miller claimed at the time that Shell and Esso had no other choice but to lower their prices because they would lose their customers to Texaco.
He said what had developed is a price war that would ultimately benefit consumers.
Following the initial move by the three companies to cut costs, the under $3-per-gallon gasoline did not last for much longer.
The near $5 per gallon fuel prices came into effect on October 27th at most service stations in New Providence, creating further burdens on consumers who had long been complaining about the high prices at the pumps.
Fuel costs at many Family Island service stations are already past $5.
Just last month, the Department of Statistics reported that higher fuel costs contributed to a rising cost of living.
It’s also a point Minister of State for Finance James Smith made in an interview with The Bahama Journal.
But Minister Smith predicted that there would be a lag effect of high fuel costs.
“I’m almost certain we’re going to see the effects of this next year, maybe six months [away],” he said.
While Texaco consumers are expected to see lower gas prices, customers of The Bahamas Electricity Corporations are expected to get higher bills this month.
BEC announced on Tuesday that the fuel surcharge was continuing to climb and corporation general manager, Kevin Basden, told The Bahama Journal that because such costs are dictated on the international market, there was no telling when the situation would get better.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
