Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura should focus not only on the margins of gas stations, but also on refineries. The refining margins of the largest fuel retailers in the Czech Republic are rising sharply, as they are still processing discounted Russian oil.
According to him, he is not the Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura satisfied with the way gas stations set their margins. This is a change in his position, as he said in a first response to the Ministry of Finance’s inspections in mid-March that there is no systematic, widespread non-objective increase in margins. However, the government should focus not only to the service stations themselves, but also to the refineries. This may be the real source of Stanjur’s current dissatisfaction.
For example The refining margins of the Polish company Orlen increased quite unprecedentedly in March, roughly fivefold. While in February the company’s refining margin was $ 7.70 per barrel, last month it was $ 39.30 per barrel. In January, the margin was only $ 4.8 per barrel.
The extraordinary increase in the margin is mainly due to the fact that Orlen, the largest operator of filling stations in the Czech Republic, continues to purchase Russian Ural oil on a large scale. Due to sanctions, the West finds itself in a unique discount.
A turning point. The government has reduced the excise tax on fuel. The YES proposal to abolish VAT on petrol and diesel did not pass
Russian oil at a record discount
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Orlen stopped buying Russian oil on the spot (immediate) market, but continues to take Russian oil contracted under long-term contracts. He thus reduced the use of Russian oil from less than 50 to about 30 percent in March.
Russian oil Urals still spent most of last week sold at a record discount, about $ 30 a barrel, as opposed to the immediate contract for Brent North Sea crude oil, the price of which is a general, global measure. On Friday, however, the discount fell to about $ 20 a barrel. And it moves around this level even today.
The discount of the Urals compared to Brent has been declining in the last five trading days as Brent itself is getting cheaper, but also because Russia is clearly more successful in finding buyers for its oil. It is bought, for example, by Chinese or Indian companies, but also by customers from Japan and South Korea. Their initial fears of Western sanctions against Russia and possibly its trading partners eased somewhat. At the same time, they also find ways to disguise purchases. For example, spot purchases result in long-term contractscontracted before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of related sanctions.
Lukáš Kovanda: MOL and Orlen buy cheaply, sell expensively. All right under Fiala’s nose
The margins of the largest gas station operator in the Czech Republic, Orlen, Poland, rose sharply in March, like Hungarian MOL. Fial’s government was a little “headed” when fuel prices fell.
The Hungarians add the most
In addition to Orlen, which operates over 420 filling stations in the Czech Republic, mostly under the Benzina brand, the Hungarian MOL also recorded a huge increase in refining margins in March. It operates 304 filling stations in the Czech Republic and is thus their second largest operator, after Orlen.
MOL’s refining margins even increased about tenfold in March. While MOL’s refining margin was $ 3.40 a barrel in February, it was $ 33.70 a barrel last month.
The extraordinary increase and the value of the refining margin by Orlen and MOL are at least partially in favor of those who warned during the record increase in fuel prices in the Czech Republic during March this year that significant result of the margin policy of refineries, fuel distributors and service stations themselves. It was in response to this criticism that the government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala began to control the margins of gas stations. It compares them with the prices set on the Rotterdam Stock Exchange.
Jana Havligerová’s political diary: You better not ask politicians anything
Are you interested in what it will be like in case of an emergency with (non) supplies of gas or electricity, heat, energy prices in general and how much you will pay for petrol stations? Don’t even ask… The government, let alone Minister of Industry Sikel, will not answer you anyway.
The Czechs paid unnecessarily much
However, the extraordinary refining margins of both Orlen and MOL signal that, at least in part In March, domestic motorists or carriers paid more fuel for fuel in a completely unusual way than would correspond to real costs and current margins.
By focusing only on comparing gas station margins with prices on the Rotterdam Stock Exchange, Fial’s government focused on only part of the complex issue. It can therefore be said that, to a large extent, it was “heading next door”. And that may explain Stanjur’s current dissatisfaction.
If the government, resp. the Ministry of Finance took the issue more comprehensively and analyzed the pricing and margin policy of companies such as Orlen or MOL, covering the entire supply chain, from refineries to service stations, they would obviously have to come to a different conclusion than before.
The violet government has stepped aside in lowering gasoline prices. Despite “checks”, MOL’s companies are growing sharply
Hungary’s MOL refining margins rose unprecedentedly in March, roughly tenfold, according to Bloomberg.
Jaroslav Míl: Europe in energy has ruined what it could. We will pay dearly for it
A year ago, Jaroslav Míl was the government’s commissioner for the core. Among other things, he was in charge of the completion of the nuclear units in Dukovany. But allegedly because he did not want to release the Russian Rosatom for the strategic project, the then Minister of Industry Karel Havlíček removed him from office, the second version was that he did not receive a security check. Mil was also the head of CEZ in the past. He is one of the few people who understands the nooks and crannies of energy policy in detail. According to him, the current Russian war in Ukraine will hit us hard, we have to prepare for bad times. But the situation is not hopeless.
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