Petrol, diesel prices go up

THE price of fuel has gone up, but the supply of the resource remained subdued yesterday as most service stations were without both petrol and diesel.

Chaos has become the order of the day at fuel stations countrywide as motorists swarm service stations to access the scarce commodity. Here, motorists jostle to be the first to the pump station in Chinhoyi yesterday.

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) announced new prices for diesel and petrol, which saw an increase of four cents per litre for both commodities as from Saturday to reflect the new tax regime by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube.

Diesel is now selling at $1,34 a litre from $1,30, while petrol has gone up to $1,38 a litre from $1,34.

In a statement, the regulatory authority said the figures represented maximum freight on board (FOB) and pump prices for the different fuels.

"The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority advises that in terms of the Statutory Instrument 20 and 100 of 2015, the applicable FOB prices starting on December 1, 2018 are summarised as FOB diesel $0,6500 and blend $0,5450, while maximum pump price for diesel is $1,34 and blend $1,38," the statement read.

Zimbabwe has over the last few weeks been experiencing erratic fuel supplies, which have been blamed on foreign currency shortages.

The shortages have resulted in some motorists resorting to the black market, where the fuel is sold at a premium price, with some dealers demanding payment in foreign currency.

The government on Friday allayed shortages fears saying they have released $60 million for the scarce commodity.

A survey by NewsDay showed that most fuel service stations are dry, with very long queues at most service stations, even those without fuel.