Gas Storage Tanks Almost One Hundred Percent Full

Hungary’s gas storage filling levels reached 95 percent at the beginning of October 2023, only one percentage point below the European Union’s gas storage filling level, Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation revealed at a background briefing on Wednesday, Világgazdaság reports.

If we compare the filling rate to the share of annual gas consumption, Hungary’s storage facilities are filled to 62 percent, with Latvia, Austria, and Slovakia at the top of the ranking, explained Viktória Németh, Senior Macroeconomic Analyst at Oeconomus.

Oil consumption reached a new high of 103 million barrels per day in early August this year, despite the ongoing greening of the global economy,”

said Mihály Tatár, Senior Analyst at Oeconomus.

At the same time, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is cutting oil production by more than four million barrels a day. The analysts also pointed out that the United States regularly intervenes in the oil market with its strategic oil stocks when the price of the Russian Urals oil goes above the price cap, or USD 60 per barrel. Russia, however, has learned how to play these interventions. If Ural oil reaches the price level of USD 59 per barrel, Russian oil traders will push the price of Ural oil above USD 60 per barrel by imposing various extra costs, such as offsetting transport-related expenses or various ‘levies.’

The analysts at Oeconomus also pointed out that the Saudis are often involved in oil market tricks. For example, if the price of “black gold” rises above USD 100 per barrel, Saudi Arabia will increase oil production. In addition, the Middle Eastern kingdom is building a “smart city” in the desert that will be able to accommodate millions of inhabitants.

At the background briefing, there was also talk that the price of petrol could rise by up to HUF 40 per liter in Hungary at the beginning of next year due to a rise in excise duty.

Via Világgazdaság, Featured image: Pixabay