Minister Ditoka urges understanding as fuel prices take time to fall

Fijians will have to wait before seeing any relief at the pump despite a recent drop in global fuel prices, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sakiasi Ditoka says.

Mr Ditoka said world fuel prices had fallen to about US$83 a barrel after spending a long period in the US$90 to US$100 range, but a delay between international purchases and local supply meant the reduction would not be felt immediately in Fiji.

“At the moment, the world fuel prices have now gone down to the 80s, at $83, I think, at the moment,” he said.

“For a long time, it has been up in the 90s and sometimes it even reached the $100 market. But we're thankful that it's now gone down to about $83.

“It'll take some time before it has any effect on us because there's a lag time between when we purchase and when the effects of the future purchase hits us.

“That's the lag time that's going to cause the delay in the fuel world market prices hitting our shores. So we just ask members of the public to be understanding because there's this lag time that we need to take note of.

“And once that lag time is caught up, then we'll start seeing the impacts at the service stations when people fill up fuel.”

Mr Ditoka said the Government had also moved to secure Fiji’s fuel supply chain amid concerns about potential disruptions.

He said he recently travelled to Singapore, the starting point of Fiji’s fuel supply chain, to seek assurances from the Singaporean Government that supplies would remain uninterrupted.

“I had recently went to Singapore where our fuel supply chains come from, where they begin as far as we are concerned, and to try to seek the assurance of the Singaporean government that those supply chains would remain intact,” he said.

Mr Ditoka said Fiji raised concerns that some fuel shipments destined for the country had previously been pushed to the back of the queue.

Singaporean authorities assured Fiji that fuel supply arrangements would continue without interruption and that such delays would not happen again, he said.

However, Singapore also confirmed that fuel prices were determined by the global market and were beyond its control.

Mr Ditoka later travelled to Australia to discuss fuel reserve planning and strategic fuel reserves. He said Australia indicated its own fuel reserve situation was challenging but provided Fiji with $30 million in budget support.

“So that's where the issue of the budget support came. I received a letter during our meeting that the budget support of $30 million would be given,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Ditoka said Fiji was exploring long-term options including regional fuel reserves, bulk fuel purchasing with Pacific neighbours and possible storage arrangements.

He said Australia and New Zealand had offered technical assistance for fuel reserve planning, while discussions with Viva Energy in Melbourne included the possibility of fuel reserves in Geelong for Fiji’s medium- to long-term needs.

Mr Ditoka said Fiji also planned to engage with partners in Korea, Malaysia and the United States to strengthen fuel security and ensure supply chains remained protected from future disruptions.