Jamaica Gas Prices

It is now official, the Special Consumption Tax(SCT) on Gas products is to be increased by $8.75 per litre. The  Finance and Public Service Minister of Jamaica, Audley Shaw, announced the increase in parliament today.

Many gas stations, in Kingston were swamped with motorist trying to get the ‘last’ of the cheap gas. There was no such rush according to radio reports in the rest of the country.

The data below shows how the situation changes when this tax comes into place on April 2009, using the ex-refinery price of Unleaded 87 for April 23, 2009. 

Current Situation

Ex-Refinery Before Tax: $44.17

Current Tax: $7.36
Ex-Refinery After Tax: $51.53

With Tax increase:

Ex-Refinery Before Tax: $44.17
New Tax: $16.11 (7.36 + 8.75)
Ex-Refinery After Tax: $60.28

As usual gas stations will their respective margins.  

Now that the gas tax increases have been announced, it is hoped that Jamaicans will either accept the decision or if so moved, lodge their protest in a peaceful manner. One simply protest is to boycott the product as far as possible or simply conserve. Time will tell whether or not Jamaica will face similar Gas Riot to those of 1985 and 1999.

Well it is budget time in Jamaica, and with falling revenues from Bauxite, Tourism and other areas, the government is looking for new areas to raise revenue. Since late 2008, Mike Henry, Minister of Transport and Works, has been floating the idea of an increasing the tax on gas. The last time  an increase in the tax on gas was attempted, the Government of the time faced the Gas Riots of 1999 and had to roll back the tax.  Since then any suggestion of an increase in the gas tax has quietly died.

The problem is this time, the government might argue that it has no where else to turn. Our dependency on foreign oil is a huge drain on the economy and the demand for US$ continues to put pressure on the Jamaican dollar.  Jamaica continues to have one of cheapest gas prices for a country that that does not have oil. Taxing gasoline also the government to widen the tax net, something that governments have been trying to do over the years.

For now we sit and wait and wonder, gas tax increase and how much?

It appears that more service stations are carrying E10 in Jamaica. Joining the list of stations are Texaco and Shell Stations in Cross Roads and Liguanea respectively. (Click here to see our current list with prices)

This will be good news to the ears of the Jamaican Minister of Energy, Clive Mullings,  who last week was concerned that some marketing companies where not pushing forward with carrying E10.

Do you know of other stations carrying E10? Remember to submit this and the other prices at our submission page

Related:

• E10 doing well so far.

November 1, 2008 was the date when E10 became offical available to Jamaicans. So far, based on feedback sales appear to be going well at stations that are carrying the products. It appears the Jamaican motorists has embraced the product but not so some marketing companies.

So far based on information we have only the some locally based marketing companies seem to be carrying E10. Petcom and Unipet seem to be leading the way. A Jamaica Information Service article quotes the Energy Minister Clive Mullings as saying,

“If anything, the other marketing companies should have got on board much more quickly, because it is creating pressure on Petcom, Multipet and Unipet because their loads are finishing quite quickly and they have to be getting other truckloads because of the pressure on their system”.

I have not used E10 yet, but based on queries by old 1991 Nissan Sentra should be able to use E10 with no problems. I see the long lines at Petcom and Unipet on Slipe Road creating serious traffic congestion.

The article also stated that about 11 stations are now supplying E10, 8 Petcom stations, 4 Unipet stations and 1 Multipet STation.

Remember to submit your E10 prices, along with other Gasoline prices and tell us about your experience getting E10.

Source:   JIS Article on E10 doing well

In an article published in the Sunday Gleaner, Mario James, the Gleaner Writer, attempts to explain why. Two reasons for this dilemna are posited. The first one is that the refinery at PetroJam is old and not efficient. The second argument is that the demand for diesel has outstripped the ability of plant to supply it.

Last week the average price of Diesel as noted by Jamaica Gas Prices was $86.80 per litre while the ex-refinery price was for this week Oct 2-9 is $78.81.

You can read the full article here at the link provided below. what are your thoughts on the matter?

Source:

• Gas versus diesel (Pt 1)