NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Government is set to meet with the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association on Wednesday, Press Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Clint Watson confirmed yesterday, with retailers warning that they could be driven out of business if appropriate action is not taken.
Retailers have previously suggested that a lockout could come this Easter weekend if their concerns are not addressed. Petroleum retailers make $0.54 cents on each gallon of gas sold but operators have stressed that margin is too low for them to remain viable.
Vasco Bastian, the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association, said: “This is bigger than just the margins. If the government doesn’t intervene we won’t be able to afford to buy gas, it’s as simple as that. The current model isn’t feasible. If we don’t address it accordingly it definitely will put people out of business. How many people have the kind of capital necessary to get into this business right away? Government has to do something. If gas gets to $8 most of these stations will close down.”
Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis recently described the increasing fuel prices issues as a “volatile one”, noting that the government is “sympathetic” both to fuel retailers and consumers who have had to absorb the cost at the pump.
“The government is aware that the prices are high and it is causing a lot of anxiety, but we’re hopeful prices will normalize as we have seen the prices begin to come down,” Halkitis told Eyewitness News.
As the war between Russia and Ukraine wages on, the cost of fuel at the pumps has surpassed $6, with fears it will rise even higher in the coming months. A recently released Inter-American Development bank (IDB) study noted that The Bahamas – based on 2019 figures – is the largest importer in the Latin American and Caribbean region of Russian gas and oil.
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