Jamaica Gas Prices

E10 is here and will be officailly launched on November 1, 2008. This week Petrojam released the ex-refinery price of E10 which is $53.93 per litre.

What is E10

According to the PetroJam website, E10 is gasoline blended with 10% ethanol. Ethanol contains oxygen which raises the octane level of gasoline to prevent engine knocking.

Ethanol may be produced in Jamaica from available products such as sugar cane biomass and other agricultural feedstock. However it is understood that initially most if not all of the Ethanol will be produced from feedstock imported from Brasil.

The Petrom website also claims that Ethanol can help to maximize the performance and acceleration potential asit allows gasoline to burn cleaner thereby reducing tailpipe emissions.

E10 will be available at a number of stations and a complete list can be found on the PetroJan’s website. As soon as E10 prices are available they will be displayed.

Sources

• Stations to deliver E10

Increase calls for someone to look on the prices of petroleum products are being heard in the media landscape. Last night CVM TV carried a report from the Consumer Affairs Commission point to the slow rate in which Service Stations reduce their prices.

They CAC according to CVM TV also reported that some stations were increasing prices while PetroJam was reducing prices. It is interesting to see the price differences ranging to over $10 dollars per litre.

Today, Oil closed at less than US $70 dollars a barrel. Once again for the 5th week PetroJam once again reduced the ex-refinery price.

Letters in the Gleaner

In the Gleaner a few letters are appearing from disgruntled consumers which is very good. On writes.. 

It is alarming that oil has fallen over 45 per cent on the world market and diesel and gas prices remain high at the pumps in Jamaica. From a high of US$147.00 plus, prices have plummeted on the world market to US$75.00 plus per barrel as of October 15.

Oil price decline not passed on 

Another writer cries…

I think I speak for everyone when I say that a 10 per cent drop is unjustifiable. Is it that the common consumer is not entitled to a fair cut? How can Petrojam continue to keep gas and gas oil prices high, when the entire Jamaica continues to witness prices falling?

Why no comparative gas price reduction?

More and more Jamaicans need to start writing and complaining. Select were you buy gas from wisely and submit your prices for others to see.

What do you think about the prices of Petroleum products in Jamaica? Let us hear your views.

It has been a long time since the price of a barrel of OIL has fallen below US $70. This continues to demonstrate the situation that the world economy has found itself. The price rebounded slightly at the end of the day.

When Hurricane IKe hit the Texaco coast in early September and the OIL production in the Gulf was shut down the normal tendency would have been for price of Oil to go up. The problem was it was not normal times and the price of Oil actually fell.

For an interesting read on the price of OIL see

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/10/16/oil.prices.low.ap/index.html

The last week has seen Oil fall to one year low of US$77 plus per barrel. This  as the financial problems in the USA spread to accross the World forcing central banks in many of the G-7, G-20 countries to intervene. The analysts argue that the falling price of OIL is the result of weak demand, fears of future economic decline and unavailabilty of funds to make futures purchase given the credit crunch.

In Jamaica, the local currency is coming under increased pressure and has now slipped to J$73.33 to US$1. Interesting Canadian and Pound have both weaken against the Jamaican dollar with J$64.63 and J$127.66 needed to purchase CAn $1 and Pound respectively.

Despite declines in the price of OIL the weak dollar against the US will result in an slight increase in the cost to local consumers. However, given the level of decline in the price of Oil, in the whole equation, gasoline should be cheaper in the coming weeks.

PetroJam taking us for a ride?
There is an interesting post by a member in the forum that we all could check out. Entitled, PetroJam taking us for a ride. In that post, using data available the member argues that the declines in the price of OIL are not being reflected in the local market . You can read it at
http://jamaicagasprices.com.jm/forum/index.php?topic=15.msg21#msg21, and give us your views

As you follow the prices of gasoline across Jamaica especially in Kingston you notice some interesting trends.  In last week’s gas review, I noted that the price differential between the high and low price for 90 octane was a staggering $9.65. (see Gas Review of week ending October 1,2008 )

This week so far there has been a reduction in the difference but at this point it remains a staggering $9.49 per litre or roughly $43.08 per gallon. (See Last 7 day Reports for details . Note this is a live report.)

Most motor cars can hold in the region of 12 gallons if not more. That said, let us say that you only have 2 gallons in your tank and you decide it a time for a fill up.  By picking the right gas station you could save a tidy sum of $430 (10 x $43) on one refill. If you can $430 per week, it will add up to close to $21,000 for the year. Now that might be small change to some but for many that money could come in handy.

The lowest prices on 90 Octane, based on information available to jamaicagasprices.com.jm, seems to be in the Cross Roads area of Kingston. This can be found at the following service stations, Worldtron’s Esso, Petcom, Slipe Road, Unipet, Slipe Road and Total Heroes Circle.

If you know of cheaper gas stations around share with us.  Also remember we want you to share all the prices you see.  In these days of tight credit we continue to encourage motorists to shop wisely and save were you can.

Notes.

In Jamaica 4.54 litres is equivalent to 1 Gallon.