NASSAU, BAHAMAS—Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association (BPRA) President Raymond Jones says that it is “a great day” for petroleum retailers following Prime Minister Philip Davis’s announcement of a fuel margin increase, expressing optimism that retailers should have sufficient headroom to sustain their operations.
Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said last night that the government has reached an agreement with petroleum retailers to increase their margins. Davis stated that retailers will receive a $0.25 increase on their gasoline margin and a $0.15 increase on their diesel margin. Members of the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association (BPRA) have been advocating for an increase for more than a year and have repeatedly stated that their backs are against the wall.
“We welcome it as an industry most certainly. We have been in discussions with the government for several years. It’s been a long process, but I took the Prime Minister at his word that he would find a solution. It took longer than we would have wanted, but he said to us on Monday that there were a lot of things to work out and consider, and he promised that once the price of fuel went down, they would revisit the issue. The price has come down significantly by almost $2 a gallon. True to his word, he said he can do it now,” said Jones.
He added: “This will be minimal to the cost to the motoring public, and we support it. In our minds, it could have been done sooner, but it’s done now. Thanks to the Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs and Financial Secretary for the time they took listening to the needs of the industry. It was clear that the government stepped up and, after review, was able to give an increase.”
Jones went on to state: “It’s a great day for fuel retailers in The Bahamas. Our board and members will continue to inform the public about where we are. There is a lot of misunderstanding about what the true margins were on gasoline and diesel. A lot of people were saying we were making a dollar something, which is not true. Provided that the economy continues to grow, this increase should be able to give the average retailer sufficient headroom. It’s also up to us to improve our cost management.”
Petroleum retailers have been in back-and-forth discussions with the government over a margin increase, which they claimed was necessary for the survival of their businesses. At one point, they refused to sell gasoline and even warned of layoffs. Retailers had earned a fixed $0.54 per gallon margin on gasoline and $0.34 for diesel—margins that do not change when fuel prices go up.
