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 respectively increased by about 0.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent on June 1, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
For the June 1-10 period, the retail selling prices of fuel in the Kingdom have been set at 5,650 riel or $1.39 per litre of regular EA92 (petrol with an octane rating of at least 92) and 5,550 riel or $1.37 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 May 21-31 were 5,600 riel ($1.38) and 5,400 riel ($1.33) 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.
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.
Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, stressed that should the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not significantly increase output and the Russia-Ukraine crisis remain unresolved, fuel rates in the Kingdom would keep trending up.
This, coupled with US and European sanctions on Russia, “will surely keep pushing up oil prices on the international market, which will make the price of fuel in Cambodia continue to rise as well”, he cautioned.
Nonetheless, so long as Cambodia can maintain sufficient oil reserves, the government and petroleum sector may be able to ensure a moderate rise in fuel prices that the public can accept.
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.
