Some prices of petroleum products are expected to go up from May 1^st, 2022, the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has stated.

Whilst prices of petrol and diesel will go up marginally, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will go down.

It explained that based on the current average price of crude oil of $104.56 per barrel, resulting in $1,057.44 per metric tonne for petrol and $1,138.33 per metric tonne for diesel on the International market, coupled with the exchange rate of $1:¢7.8165 and the government’s tax rebate of 15 pesewas per liter still in place, it is expecting the ex-pump prices of fuel for the next pricing Window, from 1^st – 15^th May 2022 to go up.

COPEC projects petrol to sell at ¢9.538 per liter, about 0.4% increase, whilst diesel will go for ¢10.829 per liter (3% increase) during the next pricing window.

On the other hand, it said Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is likely to be sold at about ȼ10.093 per kilogramme, showing a reduction of about 21 pesewas (2%) over that of the previous window.

“Considering no sudden jerks in crude oil pricing, which could lead to changes in petrol and diesel prices on the international market, then the ex-pump prices are expected to be within the projected figures as above for the next window”, it further said.

The expected increase in fuel prices, COPEC, pointed out, is primarily due to the fallen dollar exchange rate and increase in prices of finished products (petrol and diesel) on the international market despite the fallen crude price.

During the beginning of this pricing window, price of diesel went up marginally, because of supply challenges.