Fiji has fuel in storage but is feeling the immediate impact of a sharp global price surge, Minister for Information Lynda Tabuya said in a national broadcast on Friday, offering the latest government assessment as international tensions push energy costs higher.
Tabuya told listeners Fiji is not facing a domestic shortage but that retail prices rose on April 1 because the cost of future shipments has climbed steeply. “Fiji still has fuel. Our supply is stable and available across the country,” she said. “This is not a fuel shortage right now—this is a fuel price issue.” She explained that fuel importers must continually replenish stocks at prevailing world prices, so current pump prices reflect the much higher cost of buying those upcoming consignments rather than depletion of existing local stocks.
The minister put the scale of the global shock in stark terms: international oil prices have surged from about US$95 per barrel to as high as US$230 per barrel in a short period. Tabuya warned that if the crisis driving that spike—chiefly conflict and disruptions around key shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz—worsens, Fiji can expect further cost increases. “We do not yet know what supply will look like in the coming months, particularly for May and June,” she said, underlining the uncertainty.
The Strait of Hormuz is central to the concern. About 20 million barrels of oil pass through that corridor daily, and earlier statements from regulatory bodies including the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission have flagged the risks to small, import-dependent nations when the passage is threatened. Fiji imports all of its fuel and is effectively a price-taker on international markets, meaning global events rapidly transmit to domestic prices.
Tabuya said the government is taking “precautionary steps” to prepare should supply conditions deteriorate, though she did not give detailed measures in the broadcast. She urged households and businesses to use fuel judiciously in anticipation of continued volatility. The minister also stressed that Fiji has no control over international conflicts or disruptions to shipping lanes and therefore must respond to changes in the external market.
This latest statement builds on earlier government and regulator warnings issued since the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East earlier this year. Authorities have been monitoring shipping and supply routes and warning of knock-on effects for Pacific island economies that rely heavily on imported fuel. For now, Tabuya’s update clarifies that the immediate problem is affordability rather than availability, while flagging the months ahead as potentially more challenging.
The situation will be monitored closely by government agencies and fuel suppliers as international markets and shipping conditions evolve. Further announcements on any concrete domestic measures or contingency plans are likely if supply prospects for May and June become clearer.
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