The price of petrol in 15 EU counties and the price of diesel in 20 EU countries is lower than in Malta.
The European Commission has published the prices of petrol and diesel in the EU as at 23 March. This data shows that in 15 EU countries, the price of petrol is less than in Malta. The countries in which the price of petrol is lower than in Malta are Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
The price of petrol in Cyprus is €1.244 per litre. There is no reason why the price in Malta should be €0.11 cents higher!
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2015_03_23_with_taxes_1745.pdf
In the case of diesel, there are 20 EU countries where the price is lower than Malta. These are the same 15 countries listed above, together with Belgium, France, Germany, Greece and Portugal. In the Netherlands, the price of diesel is the same as Malta, at €1.28 per litre.
There is no doubt that in all these countries, the oil companies are making their own profits. This means that either Enemed Company Ltd did not succeed in obtaining competitive offers for its tenders issued on 17 December 2014, or the local state-owned company is making a higher margin of profit, in addition to the VAT and excise duties collected by the government.
A year ago, on 24 March 2014, there were 14 EU countries where petrol cost less than in Malta, at €1.44 per litre. The price of diesel in Malta was €1.36 per litre and there were 18 EU countries where the cost of diesel was lower than in Malta. In other words, consumers in Malta have been paying higher prices for petrol and diesel than the citizens of these countries for a whole year.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2014_03_24_with_taxes_1696.pdf
Two years ago, on 25 March 2013, the price of petrol in Malta was €1.48 per litre and the price of petrol in 11 EU countries was lower than in Malta. The price of diesel in Malta was €1.38 per litre at that time and there were nine EU countries where it cost less. This implies that during the past two years, more EU countries have found ways of providing petrol and diesel to their citizens at better prices than the government of Malta has managed to do.
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/2013_03_25_with_taxes_1647.pdf
When it comes to the price of petrol and diesel, the track record of this government leaves much to be desired.
Given the conflict in Yemen, it remains to be seen how these prices are going to fluctuate in the coming weeks.
Alfred A. Farrugia