Wed | Mar 18, 2026

Gas prices to jump $4.50 as global tensions drive costs higher

Published:Wednesday | March 18, 2026 | 5:26 PM

Motorists will pay more for gas come Thursday.

The state-owned oil refinery, Petrojam, says E-10 87 is to move up by $4.50 to sell for $163.38 per litre and a litre of E-10 90 will go up by $4.50 to sell for $170.83.

Automotive diesel oil will move up by $4.50 per litre to sell for $175.75.

Ultra low sulphur diesel will sell for $182.60 per litre following an increase of $4.50.

The price of kerosene will go up by $4.50, with that fuel to sell for $165.15.

In the meantime, propane cooking gas will go up by $3.06 to sell for $77.05, while butane will move up by $3.06 to sell for $86.27 per litre.

Retailers will add their mark-ups to the announced prices.

According to Petrojam, the latest price hikes are a direct result of "significant volatility and upward pressure" in global fuel markets, which have been "driven primarily by escalating tensions in the Middle East".

It said price increases for transport fuels were up to $20.30 per litre.

But the refinery noted that while these global conditions pushed regional reference prices sharply higher, its internal pricing mechanism was used to "mitigate the full impact" of those costs on local consumers and businesses

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