Lower oil prices?

International crude oil prices have tumbled substantially, and so have prices of petrol at the pump, with the US reporting price reductions of up to 30 per cent from a record of $4.11 during July to a current price of $2.92 per gallon.

Going by the fall in fuel prices in the US, unleaded petrol in Malta should now be selling at €0.85 per litre and not €1.197 per litre. Why are we so quick to increase prices at the pump when international prices rise, and so slow in correcting prices when these go down abroad?

The reason could be twofold: either bad hedging in the buying of oil supplies or Enemalta is not passing the price reduction on to the customer.

If it's a question of bad hedging then this is costing us millions in euros and the government should quantify the hedging loss resulting from the actual 'hedged' cost of fuel bought by Enemalta compared to what would have been the cost had fuel been bought at current market prices.