You all know that lately there has been a global oil or fuel crisis. This has been triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war which has disrupted oil supply from Russia, amongst other things. This then led to fuel prices being hiked two times in less than a week in Zimbabwe. Several players took advantage of the situation to unfairly hike prices of goods and services as well. Even some fuel stations were even selling fuel at prices above the prescribed caps. Ultimately diesel ended up at US$1.68 per litre and petrol at US$1.67, officially. Given what was unfolding globally, more hikes were anticipated. However, I thought even when it came to the worst the prices would not get to US$2. Sure enough, there was pressure from authorities to issue another fuel price hike. Then global crude oil prices started to drop.
The President Had To Intervene
After the initial drastic fuel hike, another subsequent hike had been on the cards. There were even fears that the price was going to end up at around US$2. It was then that President E.D. Mnangagwa issued a directive blocking another fuel price hike. He instructed the relevant authorities to employ strategies such as reducing duty on petroleum products. That did make sense because the public had cited concerns over the steep duty. It was and still is because of taxes that fuel in Zimbabwe is turning out to be the most expensive in the region. As such, most people still feel the prices have to further go down as they are too high.
However, the further hike did not happen and ZERA has since announced a downward fuel prices review as follows:
Petroleum Prices Review: Week 21 – 27 March 2022
| ZWL | US$ | |||
| Diesel 50 (ZWL/Litre) | Blend E0 (ZWL/Litre) | Diesel 50 (US$/Litre) | Blend E0 (US$/Litre) | |
| Maximum Prices | 213.90 | 213.49 | 1.60 | 1.59 |
ZERA highlighted that the prices have been set following oil price patterns on the international market, which the Authority is continuously monitoring.
Previous Prices
| ZWL | US$ | |||
| Diesel 50 (ZWL/Litre) | Blend E0 (ZWL/Litre) | Diesel 50 (US$/Litre) | Blend E0 (US$/Litre) | |
| Maximum Prices | 218.01 | 216.78 | 1.68 | 1.67 |
At A Glance
US Dollar Prices
| Month | Blended Petrol | Diesel |
| Feb 2022 | 1.41 | 1.38 |
| Mar 2022 | 1.51 | 1.51 |
| Mar 2022 | 1.67 | 1.68 |
| Mar 2022 | 1.59 | 1.60 |
ZWL Dollar Prices
| Month | Blended Petrol | Diesel |
| Feb 2022 | 152.87 | 149.55 |
| Mar 2022 | 195.72 | 195.99 |
| Mar 2022 | 216.78 | 218.01 |
| Mar 2022 | 213.49 | 213.90 |
At least the fuel price has gone down and hopefully, the right conditions will prevail to necessitate another downward review. As it stands it is not yet definitively clear if we are fully out of the woods yet. The Russia-Ukraine war is still ongoing and it is not quite easy to confidently say things are getting better. I feel a relative semblance of normalcy is coming back to the global oil industry. This fuel situation has been an eye-opener for most people who did not quite comprehend just how connected nations are. In no time fuel prices had started going up and taught people a lesson on not thinking you are always immune from a war thousands of miles away.
