The petrol companies claim that there are no conditions for the fall in fuel prices this year, because it would be more reasonable for them to rise. According to them, at this moment, a litre of petrol should cost 115 meticais.
Last Friday, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, announced that a fall in fuel prices in Mozambique is planned for October and November.
However, the Mozambican Association of Oil Companies (AMEPETROL) believes that instead of thinking of reducing, prices should increase to reach the real and current [prices]. According to the secretary-general of AMEPETROL, Ricardo Cumbe, at the moment diesel and petrol should be costing more than 100 meticais – 115 meticais per litre.
The price situation of liquid fuels on an international level has stabilized and is on a downward trend. Oil has already reached a peak of 120 dollars per barrel, although at the moment it is trading around 95 dollars.
However, AMEPETROL said that, although “there is a drop at the source level, it should be explained that this does not automatically manifest itself in the sale price to the public here in the country for several reasons, including the formula used to fix prices, which is a weighted average.
In what concerns the volume of the Government debt towards the gas stations, Ricardo Cumbe says: “we have already lost count, we can say that the value is huge. The last time we counted we were at more than 150 million dollars”.
The price of a barrel of oil at international level has been falling since the beginning of the second semester and there are studies, although not unanimous, that indicate that by the end of the year it will be below 70 dollars, after having reached a maximum of 120 dollars this year.
