‘Someone did some thinking’: Petroleum competition push

said the proposal would then go to Cabinet for support/approval at the policymaker before any necessary legislative and policy changes are made.

Bahamian petroleum retailers, though, were more tight-lipped on the Government’s proposal. “I can’t comment on anything pertaining to the Government right now,” said Vasco Bastian, the Bahamas Petroleum Retailers Association’s vice-president. The Association’s president, Raymond Jones, could not be reached before press time last night despite this newspaper making multiple phone calls and sending messages.

Sir Franklyn, meanwhile, said the industry was now analysing the Government’s suggestions but added that no one left Friday’s meeting “throwing stones”.

He told Tribune Business: “The Government laid out a proposal, and I think it’s generally being seen as a serious effort to address the issue.

“They’ve introduced some new concepts that provide elements of competition between all the parties - between individual sites [gas stations] and also between individual wholesalers. In the parlance of the current times, perhaps you’d call this a new day. The Government has asked us to come back and tell them what they think by, I think, Wednesday. I didn’t see anyone leave the meeting throwing stones. It’s a new concept.... It introduces some significant new concepts.”

Sir Franklyn declined to provide further details on the Government’s proposal but, when asked by Tribune Business if this meant eliminating the current price-controlled fixed margins, replied: “Yes. At both levels.” The latter meant at both the wholesale (Esso, Rubis and Shell) level, where margins are 33 cents and 18 cents per gallon of gas and diesel, respectively, and for retailers, where the equivalent is 54 cents and 34 cents for gas and diesel, respectively.

Mr Wilson, though, denied that the Government’s plan for breaking the petroleum industry deadlock involved changing its fixed-margin structure. His comments are consistent with the Government’s long-stated position, repeated several times by

Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs, that it will not accept a solution that results in “an immediate increase” in gas prices for businesses and consumers.

“It still has to be considered by the industry, and considered by the Government and approved by the Government,” Mr Wilson told this newspaper. “What the proposal seeks to do is to foster competition but not at the expense of the consumer. Clearly the current system is under a lot of pressure, and there must be a mechanism to do this but not at the expense of the consumer.

“It’s something that we presented, we developed the concept and we’ll have to see what’s going to happen. We have to wait until we get comments back from the retailers and wholesalers, and get the support of the Government.

This is the first step. Once we get past the first step, and get consensus between the retailers and the wholesalers that this can work, the next step will be to get political support.

“The final step will be making any adjustments in legislation, policy and rules so that this can work and