Cheaper oil, more expensive fuel – “Blame” on supply and demand

Instead of getting cheaper due to the drop of the price of raw oil in world stock exchanges by around two dollars, from USD 73.94 to USD 71.68 and a stable exchange rate of the dinar, the euro and the dollar, fuel has been more expensive by a dinar to a dinar a half on average at gas stations in Serbia, depending on the type of product.

The only explanation is that the supply has been lower than the demand in the past month and that this is the reason for sellers to raise the prices, as no other feasible reason can be found.

Tomislav Micovic, Secretary General at the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia, says that all the fluctuations in the costs impacting the operations in the oil sector, on both the national and the global plan, will reflect on fuel prices to the extent and at the rate proportional to the development of the market competition.

– These costs entail all the input costs, from the price of raw oil to various state fees. In a developed market, the influence of the competition is apparent when these costs rise and when they drop and is always to the benefit of consumers. In such a market, only those oil companies that operate rationally and that are capable of withstanding the competition, which must be based exclusively on market principles, and not on any kind of protectionism or criminal activity, can persevere – Micovic says.

He notes that he is also surprised to see the new prices at gas stations and emphasizes that wholesale prices jumped suddenly last week, immediately impacting the retail sector as well. The price of 95-octane petrol per liter is 1.2 to 2 dinars higher, amounting to 154.2 to 154.9 dinars per liter. Eurodiesel, already one of the most expensive fuels in the region, is also more expensive by 1 to 1.5 dinars, with the price currently being 163.4 to 163.9 dinars. Liquefied petroleum gas is more expensive as well by as much as 3 dinars, and currently costs RSD 78 per liter.

Comparing August 2018 to August 2017, the price of petrol is higher by RSD 12.46, Eurodiesel is more expensive by nearly 17 dinars, and the price of LPG is higher by RSD 4.12.

At the current price of fuel, the state gets 54% per liter of petrol (RSD 83.24) and 52.9% per liter of diesel (RSD 86.3).

Udruženje naftnih kompanija Srbije Beograd

Association of Oil Companies of Serbia

Tomislav Micovic

price of oil

price of fuel

price of oil in Serbia

price of fuel in Serbia

fuel price increase