A fuel attendant fills up a customer’s tank at a TELA filling station in northern Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district on March 31. Hong Menea
The retail prices of regular-grade petrol and diesel were respectively hiked by about 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent on May 2, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
For the May 1-10 period, the retail selling prices of fuel in the Kingdom have been set at 5,250 riel or $1.30 per litre of regular EA92 (petrol with an octane rating of at least 92) and 5,600 riel or $1.38 per litre of 50ppm diesel (with sulphur content no more than 50 parts per million), said the notice, which contains values in both currencies.
The corresponding rates for April 21-30 were 5,150 riel ($1.28) and 5,500 riel ($1.36) per litre of regular EA92 and diesel, respectively, up from 4,100 riel ($1.00) and 3,750 riel ($0.92) during the period ended December 31, 2021.
Compulsory for licensed filling stations, although usually not strictly enforced for street vendors, the pricing serves as a tool to facilitate and enhance cost control nationwide.
The finance, commerce and energy ministries on March 22 issued an inter-ministerial prakas, comprising 12 articles, intended to keep fuel prices “equitable”, according to commerce ministry spokesperson Penn Sovicheat.
The prakas’ chief stipulation is the lowering of the pricing period from 15 days to 10 days. They also named the commerce ministry’s Department of Private Sector Development as being responsible for calculating the retail prices of fuel in Cambodia. The department will issue the figures on the 1st, 11th and 21st of each month.
The rates are calculated using data extrapolated from fluctuations in crude prices on the international market, and a number of taxes and charges that may be adjusted based on feedback from meetings with local oil importers and other stakeholders.
The ministry notice shows that the current tri-monthly regular EA92 rate was calculated by adding the $0.7955 average Means of Platts Singapore (MOPS) over April 21-30, $0.1847 in taxes and associated charges ($0.0635 in customs duty, $0.0200 in additional fees and $0.1013 in special fees) and $0.20 premium – summing up to about $1.180 – plus an extra 10 per cent surcharge on top of that for a total of $1.2982 or 5,253 riel, which were then adjusted to their final values.
Similarly, the diesel rate was computed from a $0.9489 mean MOPS (over the same seven working days), $0.0742 in taxes and associated charges ($0.0000 in customs duty, $0.0400 in additional fees and $0.0342 in special fees) and $0.23 premium – tallying up to around $1.253 – with a 10 per cent surcharge for a sum of $1.3784 or 5,577 riel, which were then rounded to their current values.
And as has been customary since July 2018, the notice mentioned that the two current per-litre rates include a $0.04 reduction approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen “to ease the people’s livelihoods”.
