By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association continues to seek a 25 cent per gallon margin increase compared to the previously sought 30 cent increase, with hopes of meeting with Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis this weekend.

Vasco Bastian, vice president of the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association, said he intends to hand deliver a letter to the Prime Minister by the end of the week.

He declined to provide The Tribune with a copy of the letter until it was delivered.

Mr Bastian is pleading for the government’s assistance in providing relief and implementing the industry’s long-awaited margin increase. He is hopeful the government will grant their wish by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

“We have always been in a desperate situation, but it’s getting even worse now because if you see, if you’re following closely, last week, every retailer had an adjustment in their prices because the price of crude oil is starting to rise again.

“After Easter, we’re gonna get right into the summer and that’s usually when oil prices tend to rise. And so, we’re trying to see if we can get some relief before we get into the summer months.”

With repeated calls for the government to grant a margin increase, Mr Bastian said fuel retailers can no longer afford to operate on the current margin regime due to increasing costs.

The last time petroleum dealers enjoyed a margin increase was in 2011 when the Hubert Ingraham-led Free National Movement (FNM) government granted a 10-cent increase per gallon of gasoline to take it from 44 cents to 54 cents.

A 15-cent increase per gallon of diesel was also allowed. The government itself currently collects over $1.60 for every gallon of gasoline sold in The Bahamas.

“We are now operating in a negative and we’ve been operating in the negative for the last 10, 12, 13 years, it’s worse, it’s bad,” Ms Bastian said yesterday.

“Anybody who’s ever been associated with any gas station business or knows about this business knows that you have to have a more flexible margin, or the margin has to be reviewed every so often for the persons who run these gas stations in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, to make a profit.

“We should not be held hostage with a fixed margin.”

During last week’s weekly press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Simon Wilson declined to provide an update on negotiations, however asserted that they have not stalled.