The petroleum division of Enemalta is making a profit from the sale of petrol and diesel, and instead of channeling part of the profit back to motorists, it is diverting such profits to other loss making divisions.

As a result, motorists are partly subsidizing the electricity tariffs charged by the corporation!

In a modern democratic EU State, is a public corporation supposed to enjoy monopolistic powers in the energy sector and act as a ‘capitalist businessman’ maximizing profits? What happened to the liberalization of the fuel market? What benefits from EU membership are car owners and drivers enjoying?

In the case of unleaded petrol, the price of a litre of fuel in Malta at 1.430 euro is higher than the price found in 13 EU States – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Spain.  

3rd highest margin

But what is even worse is that the margin of €0.263 on a litre of unleaded petrol in Malta – at time of writing - is the third highest in the EU 28. The ‘margin’ is defined as “refining, transportation, insurance, stockpiling, distribution and sale to consumers.”

The only EU States that have a higher margin on a litre of unleaded petrol are Cyprus and Spain, where the total cost of petrol is lower than Malta!

The excise duties in Malta on a litre of unleaded petrol amount to €0.469 euro, whereas the excise duties in Cyprus and Spain amount to €0.359 and €0.425 euro respectively. These lower excise duties explain why the total cost of petrol in these two countries is lower than Malta.

Why are car owners and drivers in Malta treated as second-class EU citizens? Why cannot Maltese consumers purchase the brand of unleaded petrol that they prefer as they used to do before the fuel crisis of the mid-1970’s?

What is keeping the authorities from allowing different oil companies to supply the local market with their fuel products, as BP, Esso and Shell used to do in the past?

There is nothing wrong for Enemalta to represent one of the oil companies and compete with the rest. The role of the petroleum division of Enemalta should be to prevent price gouging by oil companies through competing against them, and not commit price gouging itself by keeping prices artificially above the market price because there is no alternative fuel retailer.

Consumers in Malta – as an EU member State - should enjoy the benefits of a free market, as is the case in all other EU countries.

The deliberations on fuel procurement in the House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee are interesting, but what car owners and drivers really need is a competitive market where such alleged abuses are minimized, if not eliminated.