Fuel prices in Malta throughout last year were between 16 to 25 per cent more expensive than Luxembourg, shadow minister Marthese Portelli said today.

Addressing a news conference, she played a clip dated two years ago, in which Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he wanted prices in Malta to be comparable and better that those of Luxembourg.

Over the first three months of this year, she said, prices were as much as 20 per cent cheaper in Luxembourg.

Citing examples, she said that while the price of petrol in Malta in January was €1.22, in Luxembourg it was €1.07.

Prices in February in Luxembourg were 20 to 24 per cent cheaper.

The situation was even worse with diesel with Maltese drivers paying €1.22 for diesel between January and March and those in Luxembourg paying just 88c, a discrepancy of more than 30 per cent.

This was when the average wage in Luxembourg was more than double that in Malta. The difference in price in the past three months was of some €13 million, Dr Portelli said.

She said that Luxembourg was not the only country where cheaper prices were being paid. Maltese drivers were paying three to eight per cent more than the EU average showing that the Maltese government had pocketed millions of euros off the back of Maltese motorists.

Dr Portelli also stood by her claim yesterday that the price of diesel in Malta was 61c when the cost of oil was what it was today.

This claim was denied by the Labour Party this morning, which said the Brent price was now around $39.60 a barrel and the last time it was similar was on December 9, 2008 when the price of diesel was €1.23.

Dr Portelli said that oil prices in 2003 were astronomical, reaching as high as $145 a barrel. The difference was that when the international price of fuel went down under the previous administration, it was reflected at the petrol pump.