Petrojam High Gas Prices

Am I the only one wondering why the prices from Petrojam seem to be too high?  There have been many attempts to try to figure out how Petrojam calculates their prices but no one seems to be able to get a straight answer on the basis.  I thought that it would be a good idea to go back and check upon the prices of oil and gasoline in the United States over the last three months to see if it would shed any light on the subject.

On March 21 the price of oil (as per Nymex) was US$104 and the national average price of gasoline as per the US Energy Information Administration was US$3.20.  In Jamaica the ex-refinery price of 87 gasolene from Petrojam was J$96.53.  The price of oil peaked at US$113 on April 7 with US gas prices at US$3.70 and the Petrojam price at J$100.53.  On April 12 the government agrees to reduce the advalorem tax from 15% to 10% and the price of gas was reduced to J$95.66.

From April 30 to May 2 the price of oil spiked to US$113 and the United States gas prices rose to US$4.00 and stayed there for about two weeks.  The Petrojam price went up to J$99.45.

Between May 6 and June 12 oil prices had fallen and hovered around the US$100 mark and US gas prices fell to about $3.75.  In Jamaica the price of gas went up and down with a high of J$99.55 and a low of J$96.55.  In the week ended June 17 the price of oil had fallen to US$94 and US gas prices had fallen to $3.60.  The latest price announced by Petrojam effective June 23 is $98.08.

Since the date of the reduction in the tax the price of oil has fallen from US$113 to US$94 which is a reduction of 16.8%.  US gas prices have fallen from US$4.00 to US$3.60 or a decrease of 10 per cent.  The Petrojam exrefinery price however has increased from J$95.66 to J$98.08 or by 2.5%.  Can anyone explain to me how the price of our gas is going up when the price of oil is coming down?  Has Petrojam changed their pricing mechanism?  I am asking this in view of the fact that Petrojam continues to operate at a loss and this may be their way of passing on the costs to the consumer.

However there is one other possibility although it sounds too sinister for me.  When the government reduced the advalorem tax it was stated that the reduction would only be temporary.  Could it be that with the current reduction in oil prices that the government has decided to increase the advalorem tax back to 15 per cent but not tell anyone? 

I think that it is time that we demystify the calculation of the exrefinery price by Petrojam.  Given that it is the people who have to subsidise the operations of Petrojam then it is only right that we know the basis.