ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Oct 7, CMC -Prime Minister Gaston Browne Wednesday said he had directed the West Indies Oil Company Limited (WIOC) to “invest in some storage tanks, gas and diesel pumps” as service station operators began protest action over what they described as shrinking fuel margins “that threaten their businesses and jobs”.
In an October 7, 2026 letter to Prime Minister Browne, the operators said a floating margin agreed by Cabinet in 2003 has never been implemented and that they are calling for the immediate establishment of a promised review committee and completion of its work within the agreed 90-day timeframe.
But in a post on his Facebook page in which he urged WIOC, in which the state retains a controlling majority stake, Browne said that investing in the storage tanks is intended “ to mitigate against the threat of the gas stations oligopoly “locking down the country” to force an increase in their margins”.
In their letter, the service station operators say they have been “holding the strain for 25 years now and have been repeatedly told that it is not good timing.
“It wasn’t a good time after Hurricane Luis. It wasn’t good timing when we were getting the first desalination plant, nor when we were doing to Deep Water Harbour, It also wasn’t a good time after Hurricane Irma
“Yet again, in 2026 we are being told that our request is reasonable, but it is bad timing. When is a good time for fairness?, “ the operators wrote.
In the five-page letter, they said that the government cannot “keep kicking this bucket further and further down the road, waiting on some ideal time which clearly does not exist”.
They said it is “challenging to retain belief that your administration is dealing with us in utmost good faith, as we have had no communication since our September 1st meeting with you”.
The service station operators reminded Prime Minister Browne that as the Minister of Finance he is aware that each price increase at the pump their returns are less given also they must first purchase the commodity from WIOC “at a higher wholesale price, all while gettig EC$1.08 cents (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) on the gallon for gasolene and EC$0.95 cents for diesel.
The service station operators say they are doing their best to preserve livelihoods given that the government had said that the burden must be shared.
But they note that since the end of August “we keep getting blindsided by higher prices which renders us operators in a worst financial position, with increasingly daily risks to our safety”.
They have reiterated that “we cannot operate on six per cent, “that is grossly unfair and places a disproportionate share of the burden on us,” adding that if the government is not supportive of saving jobs “and you want the industry to change to self-service please advise us and the public soonest, rather than letting it be death by a thousand torturous cuts”.
The service station operators say they “deeply regret the inconvenience caused to the public and we thank them for their understanding and patience during this challenging time”.
CMC/al/ir/2026