Amid global shocks, Pres. Ali urges privately-owned gas stations to cut profit margins in national interest

President Dr. Irfaan Ali is calling on privately owned gas stations to lower their profit margins as part of their corporate social responsibility, helping to shield consumers from the sharp impact of rising global oil prices.

Speaking at the 136^th Annual General Meeting of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Thursday, the Head of State reminded that the government is already doing all it can to remove costs associated with freight and has already removed all taxes on the importation of fuel.

“As a government, we have maximised our adjustment tool because we have zero percent excise tax on fuel. So, we have already maximised that adjustment. We have already maximised the adjustment on the freight costs during the pre-COVID period. We have never removed that benefit,” the President reminded.

“When the State has maximised its tools, the private sector must support,” he added.

President Ali explained that the State-owned Guyana Oil Company Limited (GuyOil) is currently operating at a deficit.

On March 12, 2026, this publication had tracked the prices for fuel at the service stations in the city and found that GuyOil continues to maintain modest rates compared to privately-owned businesses.

At that time, GuyOil’s Super 95 gasoline was priced at $170 per litre, while the same fuel at Rubis Guyana, branded Ultra Tec, was priced at $189 per litre. At Mobil, gasoline was being sold at $191. Diesel at GuyOil was being sold at between $168 and $190 per litre. At Rubis, diesel is being sold at $189 per litre and at Mobil, $194 per litre.

According to President Ali, “if we have private sector whose profit margins were 30% to 35% at a pump on refined fuel, this is the time for you to make some adjustments in the interest of the consumers.”

“These are difficult conversations, not easy conversations. But they are necessary conversations. And this is what true partnership between the government and the private sector looks like and must feel like. It is true partnership through which the people see the benefit every time there is an interaction between the government and the private sector,” he added.

Guyana has maintained a zero per cent excise tax on gasoline and diesel since March 2022 to combat rising fuel costs, down from 50 per cent in 2020.

Additionally, the government has rolled back freight charges to pre-pandemic levels for calculating import duties, excise taxes, and VAT, a policy extended through 2025–2026 to relieve importers, and ultimately, consumers.

Oil prices continue to soar on the world market in light of the escalation of violence in the Middle East.

Since the war began, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow waterway through which oil from the Middle East, about a fifth of the world’s supply, was disrupted.

President Ali has warned that even if the war ends now, it will take years before the world returns to normalcy.

“The damage on energy infrastructure in Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia, alone so far, it is estimated that to repair and restore those damages will take about five years…So even if the war stops tomorrow, we already have on our hands, five years of challenge,” he highlighted.