During this time, the best-selling Natural 95 became cheaper by about one crown per liter, when on Sunday it was sold for an average of CZK 36.97, according to CCS. Diesel has become cheaper by almost three crowns per liter since February.
“It will become more expensive from the end of next week. For gasoline, by CZK 1.20, for diesel by 80 to 90 pennies,” Finlord company analyst Boris Tomčiak told Práv yesterday.
According to him, the reason for the different growth in fuel prices is the wholesale margin of the refineries. “For diesel, we’ve been watching the wholesale margin fall in recent weeks, while it’s rising for gasoline,” he said.
Fuel consumption increased by 2.1 percent last year
Economic
According to BH Securities Chief Economist Štěpán Křeček, the price increase could be slightly lower.
“The current trend of falling prices is coming to an end, and in a week or two fuel prices will start to rise. The increase in prices should reach 40 pennies per liter,” Křeček told Právu.
According to him, the exchange rate of the crown against the dollar helps drivers against even greater price increases. “It strengthened last week, the dollar is currently selling for CZK 21.60, while in mid-March it was CZK 22.70,” noted the economist.
Brent North Sea crude rose by more than six percent to $85 a barrel yesterday afternoon. The reason was Sunday’s surprise announcement of a voluntary production cut by the OPEC+ oil cartel, which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia. The cartel will cut oil production by 1.15 million barrels per day starting in May.
“OPEC+ took this step at a time when oil production restrictions of two million barrels had already been in place since November of last year,” summarized Křeček.
He recalled that in mid-March, Brent oil was selling for $73, now it is $12 more.
In the long term, prices should fall
In the longer term, however, fuel prices should decrease. “Rather, the long-term outlook suggests that even with further production cuts, prices should tend to fall, perhaps as low as $60 per barrel. Especially at a time when many economies are going into recession and the demand for oil is falling,” said Křeček.
However, the traditional holiday fuel price hike will go against the trend of lower oil prices.
“For Czech drivers, it is often the case that even those who do not drive much during the year take to the roads during the holidays. Due to this, the demand is increasing and it may happen that some pumpers will take advantage of this and increase the prices,” he added.
Europe continues to manage to import large volumes of diesel despite sanctions, analysts say
Economic
