MOL has decided to reduce fuel prices twice this week, we are past Wednesday, the next one will arrive on Friday.
Looking back at the price trends of the past 15 years, there has never been such a significant decrease in such a short period of time.
The average price of gasoline at Hungarian gas stations was 383 forints on Monday, but from Wednesday it will be 374 forints, and from Friday it will be 365. This is a total decrease of 18 forints in just a few days. This is a difference of 50 forints for 900 liters of fuel.
Diesel started at 393 forints, fell by 9 forints on Wednesday to 384 forints, and from Friday its price will drop by another 8 forints, so a liter will cost 376 forints this weekend. This is a difference of 17 forints.
The price drop is not surprising: the coronavirus has significantly reduced demand for crude oil. The price of Brent oil, which largely determines domestic fuel prices, was close to $20 per barrel on February 60, and fell to close to $50 by the end of the month. It has since corrected slightly and is now above $52.
In the first days of January, it was still worth $66-68. It would not be surprising if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to cut production at its meeting starting on Thursday.
It's not often that there's a price drop like this.
The Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (MEKH) publishes average domestic prices on a weekly basis. Their data series going back to 2012, and the European Commission's weekly figures going back to 2005, show that such a large movement in prices in such a short period of time is very rare, especially on a market basis.
In the case of gasoline, the previous record holder was the beginning of the big drop in fuel prices at the end of 2014, that is, the week of October 13. Then, the average price fell from 414,4 forints to 397,4 forints in the space of a week. Owners of gasoline cars had a similarly good week last summer. From June 3 to 10, the average price fell from 410,2 forints to 394 forints. The largest weekly increase in price was in April last year, when on the 8th it was 393,2 forints, compared to 1 forints on the 377,9st.
In the case of diesel, there was a significant drop in the week of December 2018, 3, when prices decreased from 415,6 forints to 399,3 forints, but in April 2017, the amount payable per liter also decreased from 364,1 forints to 349,6 forints. The record for price increases is held by November 2011, when prices increased by 17,4 forints, but this was not due to market reasons. At that time, the excise tax on diesel increased from 97,4 forints to the currently valid 110,4 forints.
Incidentally, a price change of a similar magnitude to the current one did not occur even in October 2016, when the government decided to increase the excise tax on fuels when Brent was below $50. Nor was there such a change when the tax rate was reduced in the spring of 2017.
Source: napi.hu
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