The price of petrol and diesel for Tonga increased for July-August, while the price of kerosene dropped started today, 16 July.

The new retail prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene, including consumption tax are:

• Petrol 262.19 seniti per litre, 11.83 seniti increase
• Diesel 248.51 seniti per litre, 5.30 seniti increase
• Kerosene 178.08 seniti per litre, 5.98 seniti decrease

The Tonga Competent Authority in approving the new prices said it was mainly determined by the movement of FOB prices in the Singapore market based on June 2015 average prices of the daily published Means of Platt’s Singapore (MOPS) benchmark prices.

Comparing the June month average prices with May, crude oil (Dated Brent) is down by USD2.63/bbl (4.1%). All regional product prices dropped below crude with petrol prices remaining firm (a decrease of USD0.08/bbl) while diesel and kerosene prices fell with crude by USD3.13/bbl and USD3.29/bbl respectively.

At the same time, the freight rate strengthened and the Tongan Pa’anga depreciated along with a significant increase on the duty for imported petroleum products from 0.50 seniti/litre to 0.56 seniti/litre imposed by the Ministry of Revenue and Customs, which began on 3 July which offsets most the regional decease in the local price.

On the outlook, crude oil prices fell in early July due to the plentiful supply and impact on demand from China’s share market crash and Greece’s financial crisis. The Dated Brent averaged USD56.60/bbl in early July, about 13.6 percent lesser than May.

Product prices are expected to follow crude except petrol prices will remain firm reflecting strong regional demand.