Petrol price to rise by N$1.50 a litre

The price of Unleaded Petrol 95 will increase by N$1.50 a litre from 7 October, while the prices of both grades of diesel will remain unchanged, Minister of Industries, Mines and Energy Modestus Amutse has announced.

The new pump prices in Walvis Bay will be N27.86 for Diesel 50ppm and N27.96 for Diesel 10ppm. Petrol prices in the rest of the country will be adjusted accordingly, while diesel prices will remain unchanged. Amutse said Namibia had adequate fuel stocks and there was no immediate risk of shortages. “The fuel supply chain remains operational and stable, with sufficient stockholding levels maintained by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to meet national demand,” he said. He said the government would continue interventions through the National Energy Fund (NEF) and implement reforms under the Bulk Petroleum Import Coordination (BPIC) mechanism to cushion consumers against international oil price shocks.

Bulk fuel imports - Amutse said progress had been made in reforming Namibia's bulk fuel imports through the BPIC mechanism.

The government began seeing benefits from the system in July, when it intervened to arrange emergency fuel supplies with Vitol at the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) without additional premiums. According to Amutse, the government estimated that premiums on top of the BFP between July and October would otherwise have resulted in an additional cost of between N$400 million and N$700 million at the macroeconomic level. He said the emergency arrangements had therefore helped retain the money in the Namibian economy.

The government has also secured bulk fuel supply arrangements for November 2026 to January 2027 through a competitive bidding process, Amutse said. Four domestic oil companies, together with strategic partners and affiliates, participated in the process.

TotalEnergies Marketing Namibia, together with its trading partner TOTSA, emerged as the successful bidder, offering a weighted net discount of 63.85 cents a litre on the BFP. Amutse said the discount was expected to result in savings of about N$220.5 million at the macroeconomic level.

Discount does not guarantee lower pump prices - Amutse cautioned that a discount on the BFP did not necessarily mean lower pump prices.

The BFP is influenced mainly by the cost of petroleum products, the exchange rate between the Namibian dollar and the US dollar, and shipping costs. He said the BFP could vary significantly depending on international oil market conditions. “At this point in time, for example, the BFPs for November 2026, December 2026 and January 2027 are yet unknown,” Amutse said. He said Namibia could benefit twice if the BFP fell, through both lower pump prices and the additional saving provided by the discount. The reverse would apply if the BFP increased, he said.