As a growing wave of fuel station operators prepares to launch a coordinated shutdown to press for higher profit margins, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has moved to reassure motorists that critical fuel outlets across the nation will continue operating this Tuesday. Among the locations confirmed to stay open are two facilities run by the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC): one along the busy Friars Hill Road corridor and another located adjacent to the island’s central public market, alongside several additional unspecified gas stations. The official confirmation comes in direct response to circulating reports that a contingent of local fuel retailers are planning to pull their operations offline tomorrow, a collective action designed to force policy adjustments that would expand the operators’ per-gallon profit margins. This is not the first time Browne has addressed the emerging controversy; in prior remarks, the Prime Minister pushed back sharply on what he framed as poorly timed industrial action. Browne emphasized that the threatened shutdown comes at a moment when global benchmark fuel prices are already on an upward trajectory, with his administration already working overtime to absorb extra costs and cap consumer fuel prices at the pump. As of Monday evening, key details about the scope of the looming closure remain unconfirmed. There has been no official disclosure of the full list of additional stations that will remain open, and no clear data is available on how many fuel operators across the country are actually committed to participating in the coordinated shutdown. The unresolved situation has left many local motorists monitoring updates closely, uncertain about fuel access across the island in the coming hours.
PM Browne: WIOC-Owned Friars Hill, Public Market Gas Stations and Several Others Will Remain Open
