GOVERNMENT cannot promise Barbadians another significant drop in oil prices any time soon, but is "actively looking into it".

Minister of Energy Elizabeth Thompson gave this position yesterday as she spoke to the DAILY NATION following a charity launch between oil company Esso and the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) at Esso's Holborn, St Michael offices.

She said with world oil prices fluctuating, it would be difficult to gauge when Barbadians would see another drop in prices.

However, she indicated that "Bajans were already enjoying a cheaper price than commensurate with the international sale price.

"We have already taken prices down and we have never set the price commensurate with what the international sale price was.

"It went down and then it went back up again and that is the difficulty, but we cannot change them every week. We have to try to set a framework that will allow us to be flexible and to be responsive, but within a certain price ban, so that if the price drops internationally by $2 we may already be in the lowest band," she said.

Thompson last month announced at a Barbados Labour Party mass meeting a price drop for some pertroleum products. Gasolene went down by 25 cents to $2.21 a litre; diesel to $1.58, a nine-cents reduction; and kerosene's new price was $1.42 a litre, down nine cents.

World oil prices have fallen by about 23 per cent since hitting an all-time trading high above US$78 a barrel in mid-July. They were listed at US$59 a barrel yesterday.

They have not settled above US$62 since October 1, despite the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' announcement in mid-October that it would reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day. (TM)