An average 50-liter tank of petrol now costs between HUF 3,500 and 4,000 more than in December last year.Continue reading
As expected, wholesalers are continuing to raise fuel prices in Hungary, according to a recent data release from fuel price monitoring site Holtankoljak.hu.
The price of petrol will rise again by HUF 6 gross per liter in the middle of the week. Better news is that the wholesale price of diesel will not change. So, in terms of average prices, here is what vehicle owners can expect from Wednesday:
It is important to stress that these are average prices, from which actual retail prices may differ by a few forints. At the moment – and this will remain the case until midnight on Tuesday – the average price of 95 petrol is HUF 631 per liter and HUF 648 per liter for diesel. However, the typical retail price at petrol stations is lower: petrol at HUF 630 and diesel at HUF 643, writes Világgazdaság. It is also important to note that a liter of fuel is around HUF 50 more expensive at gas stations along motorways.
It remains to be seen exactly how petrol stations will price the newly announced wholesale price increase from Wednesday, but so far this year, from January until now, the price of petrol has risen by HUF 95 per liter at wholesale level, and the price of diesel by HUF 75. However, HUF 41 of this is due to the compulsory increase in excise duty in January. Excluding this, there is an increase of HUF 54 and HUF 34 for petrol and diesel respectively.
The increase of around HUF 80-90 per liter means that an average 50-liter tank of petrol costs HUF 4,000-4,500 more now than it did last December.
Olivér Hortay, Head of Energy and Climate Policy Division at Századvég Economic Research Institute, pointed out on his social media page: “If the prices at the petrol stations were not convincing enough, here is another development that shows that the conflict between the West and the oil superpowers is working against us.”
Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco reported its second-biggest annual profit ever and raised its dividend – almost all of which goes to the state – to nearly USD 100 billion, he explained. According to the expert, the case is embarrassing because last year, the mainstream media reported that the Saudis – leaders of oil superpower grouping OPEC – are unable to effectively manage the cartel and that they are paying a heavy economic price for their cooperation with Russia and China.
“The feud has gone so far that OPEC has banned Western media from its meetings and Saudi Arabia has joined the BRICS alliance. It is time to stop wishful thinking and face the fact that OPEC is no longer subservient to the West,” Hortay stressed. He added: “Communication is not the way to fill up the tank, so this trade conflict can have a disastrous outcome for us too.”
Via Világgazdaság, Holtankoljak.hu; Featured image: Facebook/OMV Filling Stations