Gov’t decides to pin current fuel prices for May

AMMAN — Following instructions from the Council of Ministers, the government’s fuel pricing committee on Tuesday decided to maintain the current price of fuel derivatives for May.

The panel, during its monthly meeting to set the price of fuel derivatives for the following month, decided not to increase prices despite an increase in international prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, according to an Energy Ministry statement.

The Cabinet’s instructions to maintain the prices of fuel derivatives coincided with Ramadan, which will start on Monday or Tuesday, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon (hilal).

Under the panel’s decision, the price of fuel derivatives will stay at JD0.750 for 1 litre of unleaded 90-octane gasoline, JD1 per litre of unleaded 95-octane gasoline, JD0.610 for 1 litre of diesel and JD0.560 for 1 litre of kerosene.

The committee said that the price of gas cylinders will remain unchanged at JD7.

Regarding international price hikes, the committee said that the price per barrel of crude Brent oil increased to $71.2 in April, from $66.1 in March.

The Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission on Tuesday also decided to maintain the “differences in fuel prices” category on monthly electricity bills for May at 10 fils per kilowatt-hour (kWh), according to a commission statement.

The “differences in fuel prices” category excludes households whose monthly consumption does not exceed 300kWh.