By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
THE vice president of the Bahamas Petroleum Dealers Association said gas prices are trending downwards, something he expects to continue leading into the first quarter of the new year.
Vasco Bastian told The Tribune yesterday that while he could not predict how much local fuel costs will be in 2023, he noted that fuel retailers are still faced with a supply and demand issue in regard to global oil.
Effective yesterday, Esso service stations saw a fall in the price of a gallon of gas from $5.97 to $5.86. Gas prices at Shell are $5.86 per gallon as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, Rubis is significantly lower at $5.21 per gallon.
“It’s (fuel) starting to trend downwards a little bit,” Mr Bastian told this newspaper yesterday.
“We have some bumps in the road, but I, I think, for the first quarter, it (fuel) should not get any higher than (it) is in the new year. But it’s still a supply and demand issue in regard to the global oil,” he continued.
In late September, gas prices fell under $6 for the first time since March, and have remained consistent.
Yesterday, Mr Bastian was confident that gas prices will remain “steady” for the remainder of the year.
“(It) definitely will remain steady because remember now, the gas cycle here on the island of New Providence and the Family Islands in regard to inventory is every six to eight weeks. So, there’s a cycle in regard to the supply and demand of purchases. You usually have a turnover every six to eight weeks you could see a change in fuel prices,” Mr Bastian told The Tribune.
Earlier this year, the price of a gallon of gas exceeded $7, with prices in the Family Islands surpassing that amount.
However, Mr Bastian suggested that fuel prices will not surpass the $7 price mark in the upcoming year, adding that fuel prices will likely range between $5 to $5.60.
The Davis administration has repeatedly said officials were looking at several initiatives to bring relief to gas operators, but without success. The vice-president of BPDA said he remains hopeful that fuel retailers can meet with the Davis administration to discuss “slight adjustments” to margins and operating costs in 2023.
“Hopefully, also that we could finally sit down with the government and finalise any slight adjustment that we may have to our margin and our operating costs in regard to our business licence that we continue to pay for many, many years on gross turnover, not net profit,” he said yesterday.
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