Prime Minister Gaston Browne has warned that gasoline and diesel prices in Antigua and Barbuda could rise again with the country’s next fuel shipment as global oil prices remain above US$100 per barrel.
“By the next shipment of oil, it’s going to increase again, so we’re going to have to increase the cost of gasoline and diesel,” Browne said Saturday on the Browne and Browne Show.
His warning came after a sharp rise in international oil prices amid supply disruptions and escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the leading international benchmark, closed Friday at US$104.61 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate settled at US$100.05. Both benchmarks gained more than 8% during the week, according to Reuters.
Those figures closely support Browne’s statement that oil was trading at about US$105 per barrel.
Brent had climbed as high as US$107.63 on Thursday as attacks on Middle Eastern shipping intensified concerns about disruptions to already-tight global supplies. Reuters reported that both Brent and WTI rose more than 6% that day.
Browne said the government could not control the international market and warned that higher petroleum costs would also affect freight, construction materials and consumer goods.
“Oil — everything that is manufactured is supported by oil. There’s a knock-on effect. Everything increases,” he said.
The prime minister did not disclose the size of the possible increase or when revised pump prices could take effect.
Source: Antigua News Room LISTEN: PM Warns Another Fuel Price Increase Could Follow as Global Oil Tops US$100.