Both NAF, Lastebilforbundet and some SP politicians are now asking Vedum to reduce the taxes on fuel. An expert predicts prices above 30 kroner per liter.
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– The Center Party will have lower fees for most people. We want to lower taxes on electricity and fuel.
That was the main message of SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum when in 2019 he presented Sp’s proposal for the state budget for 2020.
Since then, both petrol prices and electricity prices have skyrocketed, and Vedum has become finance minister. The government has implemented several schemes to help people with the electricity bill. Vedum is now also being asked to implement measures to ease people’s fuel costs.
The Ukraine crisis results in higher oil prices
The crisis in Ukraine has contributed to the rise in oil prices. According to the analysis company Rystad, the oil price could reach 240 dollars a barrel this summer if western countries roll out extensive sanctions against Russian oil exports.
Bjørnar Tonhaugen, head of the oil market in Rystad, emphasizes that this is not the most likely scenario. But he writes in a press release that oil traders, analysts and decision makers must prepare for a sharp price increase given the current situation.
Predict prices above 30 kroner per liter
– The price of petrol is determined by the price of oil. If the oil price goes up more now, we can get petrol prices of NOK 30 per liter.
Professor Øystein Foros at the Norwegian School of Management tells TV2. Nerja Macic, chief economist at the Forecast Center, also believes that fuel prices will increase in the future.
– The high oil and gas prices will probably last for a while longer. It is not inconceivable that we see fuel prices that are higher than the 24 kroner we have today. I do not think the top has been reached, she says to TV 2.
NAF demands lower fees
NAF now believes that the state must intervene.
– We receive many inquiries from NAF members who are affected by the high fuel prices. Many are upset and believe that taxes to the state must now be reduced to alleviate price pressure.
This is what Camilla Ryste from the Norwegian Automobile Association (NAF) tells NTB.
Wednesday night, petrol over 24 and 25 kroner per liter cost in many places. The diesel price was also record high. In Soknedal and Eikelandsosen, for example, it tipped. over 26 kroner, and in Tromsø cost diesel according to In Tromsø over 27 kroner a liter Wednesday afternoon.
Although prices are now rising due to the war in Ukraine and various sanctions, the price also includes tolls, VAT and CO2 taxes.
– With a diesel price of 25 kroner, 40 percent will be taxes. The government can and must now do something about this, says Ryste.
Truck owners fear bankruptcy
The Norwegian Truck Owners’ Association demands that the government remove the toll as a result of increased fuel prices.
– We’re worried. The situation is dramatic, and there is a crisis, says union leader Geir Moe P4.
The union fears mass bankruptcies and asks the government for a crisis package.
– To remove the road use fee of NOK 3.52 per. liters of diesel will have a great effect, says Moe. He also wants a reimbursement scheme introduced, and a reassessment of CO2 taxes.
Together with the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), Moe has sent letters to the government in which they express great concern about the finances of several companies.
Q requirements in advance of budget conference
Vedum is also facing increasing pressure from its own party colleagues.
Parliamentary representative Per Olaf Lundteigen is one of those who has issued demands to Vedum.
– One must get control of fuel prices by reducing taxes, Lundteigen says TV 2.
He is supported by the leader of Ringsaker Sp, who would like Vedum to be a little more forward-leaning.
– I expect them to sit down together and work hard to get a good solution, as they did when it came to electricity, says Odd Amund Lundberg to TV2.
Vedum himself tells TV2 that the price increase will be a topic at the government’s budget conference. It is held until the week. However, he rejects that there will be a compensation scheme for the high fuel prices.
– We will look at measures that mean that the total tax and duty level for those who earn less than 750,000 kroner, goes down and not up, he says.
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