Setting the price of fuel at the pump (1)

There seems to be the impression that at the moment in Malta we have particularly high pump fuel prices caused by the "fact" that around us everyone is cutting prices while Enemalta is locked in till the end of the year.

That lock-in was a boon for Malta when prices sky rocketed, so much so that according to the EU Oil Bulletin reports we had the cheapest diesel of the EU 27 in June and July, the 7th cheapest in August and the 9th cheapest in September. A reading taken on October 20 this year shows that we are now in line with the EU average but it's good to note that our diesel (at €1,206 per 1,000 litres) is still much cheaper than our main trading partners in the EU such as Germany (€1,242), Italy (€1,252) and the UK (€1,481) among others.

Petrol gives pretty much the same story. We moved from 6th cheapest in the EU in June this year to the 9th cheapest in September this year.

On October 20 prices in Malta stood at €1,197 per 1,000 litres with the EU average at €1,244, Germany at €1,267, Italy at €1,292 and the UK at €1,330.

So the moral of the story is that not only did we benefit greatly from Enemalta's pricing policies between June and August when world oil prices were sky high but we are even well placed in the months of September and October, when prices fell to an extent that no one ever forecast. Not bad for the team (and it does not include the under-signed) led by the chairman of Enemalta who had the foresight to lock in way back in May!