BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - While the Minister with responsibility for Energy, Hon. Asim Martin, has denounced the rumor concerning doubling of the price of cooking gas (Liquid Petroleum Gasoline), the prices of gasoline have soared overnight.
“SOL has no recommendation before the government at this present moment for an increase in Liquid Petroleum Gas – cooking gas,” Martin said Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 30) at the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly.
Minister Martin said that in speaking with the General Manager of SOL - the main importer of LPG, “He has indicated to me in no uncertain terms, Mr. Speaker, that SOL has no recommendation before the government at this present moment…no recommendation for an increase in LPG. So I want to clear the air on that particular matter, as it pertains to LPG, as it has been making the rounds on radio, twitter and Facebook that there is an increase.”
Currently, a 20-pound tank of LPG is being sold for EC$30 and the 100-pound EC$140.
Meanwhile, the prices for unleaded gasoline stand at $13.80 per gallon at Delta Service Stations, $14.07 per gallon at Texaco, and $14.86 at SOL (Shell) Service Stations, where they were previously sold for $13.15, $13.19 and $13.82 respectively.
The boost in gas prices came about when, in the past (December 2006), gas prices had increased because the government had employed the “Full Pass Through System” where the fluctuation in oil prices on the international market had also affected consumers in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Consumers, however, were able to breathe a sigh of relief when gas prices at the pump dropped from a record high of almost $20 to just under the $10 mark. But with prices on the rise again, citizens and residents of the Federation will have to tighten their belts as Prime Minister Douglas had earlier warned.
