NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Esso service stations today will drop their fuel prices below the $7 mark as the fuel giant’s corporate directorate has prioritized “people over profit”, the Bahamas Petroleum Retailer’s Associations vice president said yesterday.
Vasco Bastian, who also operates the Esso service station on East Street and Soldier Road confirmed to Eyewitness News that fuel prices would be reduced effective today at Esso retailers.
“All Esso gas stations will reduce the price of their fuel effective tomorrow (Wednesday) to $6.96.
“It will go down from $7.39 to $6.96.
“It has nothing to do with the margins.
“It just means that Esso Corporate has decided to reduce their price.
“That means that Esso is very in tune with the challenges of the Bahamian motorists.
“It means we may end up having cheaper gas during the summer,” Bastian told Eyewitness News.
Esso raised the price of its fuel over the $7 mark earlier this month and now with the reduction is offering the lowest price of gas on the island with Rubis at $6.98 and Shell at $6.97.
“I think they can maintain that for a few weeks or even further because they have negotiated some serious buying power with the type of volume they generate through The Bahamas.
“It shows that the guys behind the scene are doing a lot of negotiating.”
Bastian, who did not comment on whether any further price decreases could be forthcoming, as he acknowledged that petroleum dealers are still in negotiations with the government over their desire for an increase in their profit margins on fuel.
Petroleum retailers and the government have met on several occasions in recent months, although no definitive outcome has resulted from those discussions.
Retailers currently earn a fixed $0.54 per gallon margin on gasoline, and $0.34 for diesel, margins that do not change when fuel prices go up.