Petrol price falls [1]
Monday, May 18, 2020 - 21:22
The prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel have fallen largely in new prices effective on May 18.
Tonga's Competent Authority (TCA) said, overall there is a large decrease in all product prices this month.
Wholesale petrol, kerosene and diesel will reduce by 57.66 seniti/litre, 48.24 seniti/litre and 35.71 seniti/litre respectively.
Retail petrol, kerosene and diesel will reduce by 61.49 seniti/litre, 51.62 seniti/litre and diesel 37.79 seniti/litre.
Comparing the mid-February - mid-March 2020 month average prices with mid-March – mid-April:
- Crude oil (Dated Brent) was down by USD 20.87/bbl (42.2%);
- Petrol was down by USD 34.26/bbl (59.9%);
- Jet was down by USD 28.74/bbl (51%); and
- Diesel was down by USD 21.91/bbl (37.1%).
Jet and petrol were down more than crude as these are the products most impacted with loss of demand. The freight rate has strengthened again this month offsetting some of the lower landed costs.
This reflects the impact of large producers securing ships for temporary storage as the global onshore capacity shrinks. The Tongan Pa’anga has depreciated by 1.8% offsetting some of the gains from lower Singapore prices. All factors combined, the resulting international price change flowed through to lower retail prices for all products in Tonga.