Enemalta: no price fixing on diesel
Enemalta said it has no agreement with other suppliers to fix the price of diesel but insisted petrol stations may sell the fuel at a lower price.
The denial came in the wake of a story carried by The Times last month that reported that not all petrol stations sold diesel supplied by Enemalta.
Motorists have no way of telling the difference between fuel suppliers and the price is uniform across all petrol stations even though a quarter of them supply diesel imported by a private company.
“Importation is not a joint venture and there is no agreement in place with other suppliers to keep prices the same from month to month,” an Enemalta spokeswoman said.
A representative for petrol station owners had said diesel was imported jointly between Enemalta and the private firm.
Enemalta was the dominant market player but the spokeswoman insisted it did not impose the price of diesel.
Enemalta published the “maximum retail price” every month after taking into consideration a number of factors, including international price movements and stock levels, she explained.
“Petrol stations can charge a lower price if they wanted to take that avenue,” she said.
Enemalta, she added, had a legal obligation to ensure security of stocks when buying petrol and diesel. This was also calculated in the monthly price revisions.
Talks to indicate suppliers
“Enemalta regularly reports to the Malta Resources Authority on the quantity of stocks being held on behalf of the company at all times and also provides the name and location of the terminal, installation or refinery where these stocks are being held,” the spokeswoman said.
The fuel market was liberalised in 2007 but petrol is still exclusively supplied by Enemalta and, in the diesel market, the consumer is not benefitting from price competition.
Questions sent to the private firm over its pricing policy for diesel, which is similar to that of Enemalta, were unanswered.
Both the Malta Resources Authority and the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority have so far declined to take a stand on price uniformity in the diesel market.
The authorities had referred the matter to each other when this newspaper put questions to them about the issue.
The MRA said it was in talks with petrol station owners to create visual markers helping motorists identify fuel suppliers.
Enemalta said it welcomed this development and insisted every imported fuel shipment was tested in an independent laboratory to check for compliance with legal specifications.
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13 Comments
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E. Azzopardi
Jan 3rd, 17:56
Where is our liberization of fuel, which should have happened in 2007 ?
50 years ago we have three choices, remember? Today, in 2012 and eight years into the EU we have none!!!!
P Sciberras
Jan 3rd, 15:50
I want to add some more comments as I run out characters in my previous comment. I had no idea that Enemalta was not the sole importer of Malta's fuel.What I have noted in my diesel car was that it started to knock frequently. What I have noted also that some diesel vehicles were omitting a different kind of smell different than the normal diesel exhaust we are used to.
Alfred Farrugia
Jan 3rd, 15:07
Does Enemalta purchase its diesel from the same source every time? Does this diesel have a brand name? Why is this brand name kept secret? Why cannot consumers know what they are purchasing from Enemalta and/or from the other private firm? Where is the transparency that the authorities speak about? Maltese consumers are the only ones in the EU treated in this manner! It is time to wake up.
Peter Murray
Jan 3rd, 12:08
I have just asked four(4) petrol station owners regarding the MRA claims that they "are in talks with petrol station owners to create visual markers helping motorists identify fuel suppliers" yet strangely none of them had any idea what I was talking about!So why dont the Times ask the MRA which petrol station owners the MRA are actually in talks with?As I have and once more been ignored.
Peter Murray
Jan 3rd, 11:56
How very unusual for both authorites (MRA-MCCAA) to pass the buck to one another and for neither to assume responsibility or accountability.Is this a new tactic?Where are the results published regarding these alleged "fuel checks and tests" and how may the public access such?Who is this elusive and clandestine "private firm"who imports diesel and how may one access their record of accounts?
P Sciberras
Jan 3rd, 11:24
A long way back, Fuel pumps used to be sealed and only Enemalta had the authority to break the seal to adjust any change in the price of fuel.Nowadays,with the fuel price variation every month,correct me if I am wrong, the fuel pumps owners,adjust the price themselves.I am not accusing anyone,but how as customers,can be 100% sure that the price displayed on the fuel meters is the 100% accurate.
Peter Murray
Jan 3rd, 11:49
Good point but also who ensures that the prices are changed ONLY at the time they should be and not before?
Mario Camilleri
Jan 3rd, 10:53
This is the Government legally robbing the consumers. Enemalta, MRA and the Government are all the same. They are all legally bound to protect us!!! But then again, this is Malta. This is "the Malta", a tiny Island of 180sq miles we're talking about a not the US, 3.5 million times larger!!
We need a real Robin Hood!!
Francis Grech
Jan 4th, 00:17
Mario you will get your Robin Hood in a few months time but remember Robin Hood was not always robbing the rich to give to the poor that is only a myth, he kept the good things for himself .
C Muscat
Jan 3rd, 10:00
Ilna misruqin b dawn it-taxxi mohbija.
paul camilleri
Jan 3rd, 09:29
maybe Enemalta is not fixing the price for privately imported fuel but that does not mean that the stations are not buying cheaper fuel and selling it at Enemalta price. how can we the consumer be sure who's fuel we are buying? what measures is Enemalta and the consumer right group taking to ensure we pay for what we are buying?????
victor caruana
Jan 3rd, 09:16
Gauging the fuel meters at petrol pumps has become a priority. What is happening? Anybody experiencing different amount of fuel being supplied at different pumps for the same number of euros?
The Consumer Association should inform the public of such possibility of trickery at the pumps i.e. where are we getting the best deals! i.e. a fair deal?
Peter Murray
Jan 3rd, 11:47
Wth respect Victor that is not the job of the CA but the job of both the MRA and the MCCAA (Fair Trading division)to ensure,maintain and enforce
Please choose the reason of your report below: