Namibia intervenes to protect consumers as fuel prices rise

WINDHOEK, March 27 (Reuters) - Namibia's government will temporarily reduce fuel levies by 50% for at least three months until the end of June in a bid to protect consumers from higher pump prices as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran continues, the energy minister said on Friday.

The decision by the southern African country, which is wholly dependent on imports of refined petroleum products, is the latest response by an African country to the Middle East crisis that has strangled around 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas exports that transit via the Strait of Hormuz.

"This measure is necessitated due to the high price volatility of petroleum products, which resulted from the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East," Modestus Amutse, Namibia's energy minister, said at a media briefing.

He said the government will make use of its National Energy Fund to help stabilise fuel price volatility from April 1 to the end of June, with April's under-recovery amounting to some 500 million Namibian dollars ($29 million).

At the same briefing he said fuel pump prices for April will increase N$2.50 per litre for petrol and N$4.00 per litre for both diesel grades, with the under-recovery covered by government.

"The objective is to smooth price volatility and ensure stability in domestic fuel prices," he said.

Namibia, a global oil and gas exploration hot spot which hopes to produce its first oil by 2030, consumes approximately 100 million litres of petrol and diesel each month.

Amutse emphasised that the country's fuel stocks are adequate to meet national demand for one to two months, and urged citizens not to illegally hoard fuel or engage in panic buying.

($1 = 17.2169 Namibian dollars)