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The two main beneficiaries
of higher oil prices, which surged past US$100 a barrel on the
international markets, are the government and petrol refining and
retail companies such as Galp and Repsol. “This is daylight
robbery, a saga of greed at the expense of the ordinary Portuguese
motorist, and is carried out by the petrol giants with the government’s
blessing,” said António Saleiro, the President of the Petrol Retailers
Association (ARCPN). “It was the oil companies that had gained the most
from this scandalous swindle.”
According to the latest information from the
Director-General of Energy (DGE), Portugal burns on average five
million tonnes of diesel and 800,000 tonnes of petrol. The
increases average out at four cents a month on diesel fuel and 2.5
cents on petrol, resulting in profits close to one billion euros, with
the state taking 21 per cent in IVA.
The Portugese Petrol retailers Association said that the blame could not just be laid at the door of companies
looking to the interests of their shareholders, but to the government
that should be “regulating the sector and putting a stop to
speculation.”
Faced with successive increases in fuel prices and
the strength of the euro against the dollar, Minister for the Economy,
Manuel Pinho, has asked the competition authority (Autoridade de
Concorrência) to urgently analyse the development of fuel prices in
Portugal, so as to guarantee that these reflect the (increased) cost in production.
“Bearing
in mind that, in just four months, there have been 14 price increases
in fuel we must be alert to the consequences on business and ordinary
consumers,” he said.
In Portugal, 60 million litres of diesel
and 20 million litres of petrol are consumed per year. While in 2003 a
litre of diesel cost 70 cents and petrol 95 cents, today diesel costs
€1.32 per litre and petrol €1.44.
PetrolWorld 090508
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