The Nationalist Party today submitted a parliamentary motion calling on the government to lower the price of petrol and diesel.
The motion was presented by Deputy Leader Mario de Marco and the Energy Shadow Minister Marthese Portelli.
The opposition noted that between June and December of 2014, the price of oil reduced from $100 per barrel to $44 per barrel – a reduction over 55%. However, the Maltese public has not benefitted from the decrease, and fuel prices have the highest fuel prices across EU member states, if one excludes tax. Tax included, price in Malta is still among the highest. In most European countries, price for both petrol and diesel has fallen to below €1 per litre, while in Malta prices stand at €1.42 and €1.35 per litre for petrol and diesel respectively.
Shadow Minister Marthese Portelli said that as things stand, the opposition cannot confirm whether high fuel prices are the result of hedging, as no agreements have been tabled in parliament by the government. The Opposition is requesting the government to provide more information on why fuel prices are what they are. Meanwhile, Deputy Leader Mario de Marco questioned whether fuel prices will decrease when the hedging agreement period is over, if this is the case.
Addressing the PL's General Conference yesterday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the prices of petrol were reduced six times in the last 22 months, adding that the prices of diesel in Malta were cut down before the international prices of oil dropped.
Dr Muscat had said that fuel prices are expected to go down again, however Portelli said that the government can’t be trusted, given his reputation. “Prior to the election, the government pledged it will not privatise Enemalta, but this is not the case today. It also promised to build a new power station in two years – and again this promise was broken,” she said.
In a press statement, the PN said that contrary to what was reported on l-orizzont today, there are five countries were the price of fuel is less than €1 per litre - Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Bulgaria. It called on the General Workers Union to demand that the prices of fuel go down.