An opportunity to get a glimpse at the world’s petrol prices for the period 2007 - 2017 is available in the July issue of the Italian motor enthusiast’s magazine ‘Quatroruote’ (pages 38-39). Siding with the Italian complaining motorist, the magazine compared the March pump price variations of petrol for the years 2007 (before the price of oil exploded and 2012 when the price stabilized at a rather high level), 2016 and 2017 (the last years of a run of affordable prices). The study looked at the petrol prices in 21 cities around the world. I took the opportunity to confront these variations with those experienced locally.

The original study listed 21 cities or states. Two Indian cities (Chennai and Bangalore) are not included here due to missing data for 2007 and 2012. The March petrol prices from Malta for the relevant years were then incorporated.

The March 2007 petrol price for each city or State was taken as the basis price (denoted as zero). The percentage variations from this basis price were calculated for each of the cities and for each of the other three years under scrutiny. Two distinct variations classes were noted. Table 1 lists a small group in which the percentage change in the years 2016 and 2017 remained markedly high. Any advantage that could have benefited the consumer was absorbed by the State as taxes or the petroleum retail business. Remarkably, Malta made it to the top of this group which included two Swiss cities and Singapore. New York is included in Table 1 for the sake of comparison and as a representative of rather tax-free (US) petrol.

Table 1

A second larger group (Table 2), revealed that the relevant states overwhelmingly reverted to cheaper petrol prices as the international price of petroleum, and therefore fuels, resettled to the quiet period we have been witnessing over the past years. Malta has been included here and sticks out very prominently. It outshines all the other states, meaning, Maltese authorities have denied (and are still denying) the consumer a return to low petrol prices comparable to 2007.  

Table 2

The data in Table 2, which includes Malta’s petrol price variation, are shown in Chart 1. New York (US) illustrates how untaxed fuel varies with the fluctuations in the world petroleum and fuel market. 

The chart tells a revealing story. The price at our petrol pumps has not returned to 2007 levels. Malta’s petrol price variations beat the general trend by a huge margin. The retained, excessively high prices are only partially explained by the stepwise increases of excise tax (and conversely VAT) imposed on fuels. It reveals that there must have been a higher take by the Exchequer, likely masked as ‘commercially sensitive’ information attributed to Enemed’s working profits (read government revenue).

For a couple of decades, excise tax on fuel has been steadily increased, conveniently at a time when the international prices of petroleum products go down. A preferred method, as it occurs concurrently with a token decrease in prices at the pumps. This limits grumbling from gullible citizens.