Fuel price jump in Jamaica
- Jamaica changed pump prices on April 23, raising gasoline while cutting diesel marginally. - 90‑octane now costs J$188.57 per litre and 87‑octane J$180.50, both up J$4.50. - The move raises transport costs for travel‑heavy services, pressuring route discipline and minimum-job pricing (jamaicaobserver.com).
Jamaica raised gasoline prices again on Thursday, April 23, pushing 90-octane to J$188.57 a litre as diesel slipped by a quarter. (jamaicaobserver.com) Petrojam’s latest ex-refinery update put 87-octane at J$181.13 per litre, up J$4.50, while automotive diesel moved down to J$188.75 and ultra-low sulphur diesel to J$195.59, both down J$0.25. Retailers and marketing companies add their own mark-ups on top of those posted prices. (jamaicaobserver.com) The April 23 change followed a brief pause the week before, when both grades of gasoline and both diesel products had each fallen by J$0.25. Before that, Petrojam had posted successive J$4.50 increases on April 2 and April 9. (jamaicaobserver.com 1) (jamaicaobserver.com 2) (jamaicaobserver.com 3) That run-up has lifted 90-octane from J$179.83 on April 2 to J$188.57 on April 23, and 87-octane from J$172.38 to J$181.13 over the same span. Automotive diesel is still higher than it was on April 2, rising from J$184.75 then to J$188.75 now despite this week’s small cut. (jamaicaobserver.com 1) (jamaicaobserver.com 2) The pressure on prices has been tied to higher oil costs during the Middle East war. Petrojam said on April 1 that regional tensions had kept oil prices above seasonal averages, and Energy and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said on April 15 that the conflict was pushing prices higher while Petrojam absorbed J$11.8 billion in losses over four weeks. (jamaicaobserver.com) (jamaica-gleaner.com) The government has also been changing how fast those swings reach motorists. Economist Keenan Falconer told the Jamaica Gleaner that Petrojam’s old J$4.50 weekly cap had cushioned price moves, and Vaz said a new three-tier system would track global oil prices more closely because the cap “can’t be sustained.” (jamaica-gleaner.com) For drivers and transport operators, the gap between gasoline and diesel has narrowed to almost nothing: J$188.57 for 90-octane gasoline versus J$188.75 for automotive diesel before retail mark-ups. That leaves fuel-intensive services facing another week of high pump prices even with diesel fractionally lower. (jamaicaobserver.com) The next Petrojam update will show whether April’s pattern holds: sharp gasoline increases, tiny diesel relief, and pump prices that remain near the month’s highs. (jamaicaobserver.com)
