Fuel Price change
During the month of October 2015, there was a decrease in the Singapore refinery prices (US$) for both petrol and diesel; however there was an increase in the price of kerosene. Moreover, there was a decrease in the international shipping rate for the month of October, 2015.
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of ICCC, Mr. Paulus Ain, said that based on the Commission’s calculations, the IPP for both diesel and kerosene have increased for this month, while the IPP for petrol has decreased. The increase in the IPP of diesel and kerosene is mainly attributed to the depreciation of the PNG Kina against the US Dollar during the month of October 2015. Thus the exchange rate effect has cancelled-out the decrease in the price of diesel in Singapore. However the extent of the decrease in the Singapore refinery price for petrol has not been fully cancelled-out by the depreciation of the kina and so the IPP of petrol has decreased for this month. The decrease in the IPP for petrol is also attributed to the reduction in the international shipping rate during the month of October, 2015.
The domestic retail prices are inclusive of the IPP, domestic sea and road freight rates for the last quarter of 2015, the applicable wholesale and retail margins for petrol, diesel and kerosene respectively, excise duty and GST.
As a result of adding all the various cost components, the following table shows the maximum retail prices of fuel that are to be sold in Port Moresby effective from the 8th of November, 2015.
Port Moresby Retail Prices (toea per litre)
Petrol (tpl) Diesel (tpl) Kerosene (tpl)
Retail Prices as of 8th November (current month) 287.52 222.95 213.60
Retail price as at last month (October) 287.76 222.06 211.60
Price Variance (+/-) toea per litre -0.24 +0.89 +2.00
As stated above, for this month the retail fuel prices for Port Moresby will change as follows:
• Petrol price will decrease by 0.24 toea per litre;
• Diesel price will decrease by 0.89 toea per litre; and
• Kerosene price will increase by 2.00 toea per litre.
Retail prices at all other designated centres will change according to their applicable in-country shipping and road freight rates charged by the oil distributors for the third quarter of 2015. All centres will see increases in the prices of diesel and kerosene, while there will be a decrease in the price of petrol.
Mr. Ain explained that the ICCC only sets the wholesale and retail margins on an annual basis while the IPP is set under the Project Agreement. The ICCC also monitors the domestic sea and road freight rates on a quarterly basis as provided by the fuel distributors under the current arrangement. This is to ensure that the rates are reflective of the efficient costs of transporting petroleum products within PNG.
As part of the ICCC’s role in enforcement and compliance, officers will conduct inspections at all service stations from 8th November, 2015 to ensure the price at which the petroleum products are sold do not exceed the maximum prices approved by the ICCC. Again, the ICCC would like to remind retailers who have pumps set to one decimal place that while the ICCC continues to set the maximum price to 2 decimal places, no fuel pump operator can charge above the Indicative Retail Price for the month 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. Mr. Ain urged retailers who are displaying prices to 1 decimal place to round the prices down to ensure prices are within allowable indicative retail prices. Consumers are advised to report any instances of overcharging by retailers through the ICCC’s Consumer Protection Division on 325 2144.
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