Fuel crisis signal
Hole Barriers
“There are signs of a high-octane gas shortage,” analysts confirm the threat. One of the representatives of the oil business told the Vedomosti newspaper that, despite the barrage duties (they tried to make the export trade in fuel less profitable than domestically), there was still not enough goods at the refinery.
We add, also, because the world market conditions threw a cruel joke: in the last week abroad, fuel prices jumped up, especially for summer diesel fuel. A representative of another company shared: “The shortages of high-octane gasoline to the Russian market are 100-150 thousand tons per month.”
The oil refining industry, in addition, is not ready to fulfill the requirements of the new technical regulation, that is, to reduce the production of low-octane fuel and thereby increase the production of high-octane. This statement is not the first to sound, but when the threat of a fuel crisis rises, it becomes acute.
From the exchange to the steering wheel
Market researchers report: last week, fuel demand was ten times higher than the supply on exchanges. It is necessary to clarify: for fuel at a low price (for expensive to take - at a loss). At the auction, “address” deals slip again, which was recently branded by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation (under the guise of free trading, oil products are sold by collusion - targeted, at a pre-agreed price). As a result, the average wholesale price of AI-92 increased by 1.7%, AI-95 - by 1.1%.
A rise in wholesale prices, as a rule, provokes a jump in retail. That is, ultimately people will have to drive off at the wheel - both with money and nerves in front of an empty refueling gun.
So yes or no"?
However, according to the expectations of the RF Ministry of Energy, an outbreak of a fuel crisis in the country is unlikely.
Minister Sergey Shmatko the other day recalled that in July and August there is always an increase in demand for fuel, but now there shouldn’t be a shortage of it: measures taken by the authorities "practically eliminate this threat."
Who will reassure assurances containing uncertainty? Especially when it comes to the interests of millions of people, and statements come from a government official of the first magnitude? We are satisfied with convincing formulations: “I guarantee”, “I give my head for clipping”, “I will resign if it does not”. The oath “I’ll eat my own hat” does not go away: it’s not easier for drivers to indigest a minister’s stomach.
The tycoons are choking
“We will not envy us either,” the oil workers object. Here is what BusinessFM radio station was told by the head of the Alliance NC press service Andrey Rumyantsev:
- The company sets the price of fuel according to the well-known principle - costs plus rate of return. Now we are striving to ensure a profitability of at least zero, well, a maximum of 1-2%. So we do not have reserves for “lowering the price”, as the government requires. The retail price of our gasoline is even slightly lower than what we could call a fair market.
Fuel crisis signal
Bend the heads, oil workers Bend the heads, oil workers
Head of the press service of Lukoil Dmitry Dolgov:
- There is no economic justification for lowering prices at the expense of the interests of oil companies. Everyone knows, including in the government, that taxes account for about 60% of the price of petroleum products. Hence, the most effective way to reduce the cost of fuel is to reduce the tax component. In the meantime, the reverse process is underway: excise taxes have grown and will continue to grow.
“The government linked the price of gasoline to the export price of oil through the mineral extraction tax formula,” Mikhail Krutikhin, partner of RusEnergy consulting company, commented on the situation for Business FM. - With the growth of taxes, such a methodology forces to increase the price of gas suppliers to the domestic market.
What the translation means: wait at the gas station for changes in the price tags. Guess three times which way.
Surgery indicated
Admittedly, tired of skirmishes in which the government blames oil workers for price collusion, and the government oil workers for stubbornly rejecting market realities. So much has been said, written about this, that answers have been received to all questions, including the key - what to do.
So do it finally! Cut “cancerous” taxes from the body of gas prices (they still know that in comparison with other oil-producing countries we pay a monstrous amount), beat oil crooks, build new refineries, so that, like in the USA, you get twice as much from a ton of oil, than now … Otherwise, we will again step on the fuel-crisis rake.
