Overview:
Over the last two months, fuel prices in Uganda have dropped to about Shs5,100 a litre for petrol and about Shs4,700 at Shell and Total fuel stations. At other fuel stations such as Stabex, fuel now costs about Shs4,900 per litre.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has said it is too early to attribute the slight decline in fuel prices to the government of Uganda’s takeover of petroleum imports.
Over the last two months, fuel prices in Uganda have dropped to about Shs5,100 a litre for petrol and about Shs4,700 at Shell and Total fuel stations. At other fuel stations such as Stabex, fuel now costs about Shs4,900 per litre.
This has prompted many to think that this is a result of Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) taking over the sole importation of fuel products into the country.
But ministry of Energy head of communication Patricia Litho said: “No. There is a global downward decline in pricing, it is too early to credit UNOC,” she is quoted as saying.
In July 2024, UNOC delivered its first 80 million litres, starting what would be a game changer in the supply and cost of petroleum products in the country, eliminating what has been considered the biggest bottleneck, “Kenyan middlemen”.
However, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, there is no evidence to tag the price decline on this government intervention.
“However, it ought to be noted that the UNOC is bringing in all products 100 percent apart from aviation fuel. Over 234 million litres were consumed in September 2024,” she is quoted as saying.
Fuel prices in Uganda have been dropping over the last few weeks amidst volatility in the global crude oil market mainly caused by the Middle East conflicts and weather storms in the USA.
Crude prices also fell from more than 120 Dollars a barrel to around 80, but have since plummeted further.
On Tuesday, however, crude oil prices slid as much as 3 Dollars on the back of a weaker demand forecast and after it was reported that Israel was willing not to strike Iranian oil targets, which eased fears of a supply disruption.
US and European market crude prices were both down to between 70.5 and 71.2 dollars a barrel.
However, this has been affected by the war on Gaza by Israel which has drawn the intervention of Iran, a major producer, slowing down the fall in prices, according to analyses.