Malta paying highest prices in Europe for petrol, diesel

Excluding taxes, diesel and unleaded petrol are now more expensive in Malta than in any other EU member state, European Commission data shows.

The EC’s weekly oil bulletin shows that untaxed petrol in Malta costs 56c9 per litre, significantly 11c5 more expensive than second-placed Denmark.

Similarly, untaxed diesel costs around 56c2 per litre, also the most expensive in Europe, 10c6 more expensive than Denmark, again second-placed.

At the other end of the scales, untaxed petrol is cheapest in the Czech Republic (33.3c/l), the United Kingdom (33.9c/l) and Slovenia (35.2c/l). Diesel is cheapest in Slovenia (32.6c/l), France (33.6c/l) and in the UK (33.6/l).

The taxed price of fuel purchased by consumers at Maltese pumps is also high up the wrong end of the scale. Taxed unleaded petrol costs €1.32 per litre, the fourth most expensive in Europe, behind only the Netherlands (€1.38/l), Italy (€1.36/l) and Denmark (€1.34/l).

Diesel in Malta costs €1.22 per litre, the third most expensive in Europe behind only the UK (€1.29/l) and Sweden (€1.26/l).

This means that the Maltese government is currently charging 75c1 in excise duty for every litre of petrol and 65c9 for every litre of diesel. 

The government has faced pressure by the Opposition, the Chamber of Commerce and the GRTU to dramatically reduce fuel prices so as to reflect the low market price of crude oil, that closed at $35.22 a barrel on Thursday.

However, energy minister Konrad Mizzi has said that the government’s fuel hedging policy – involving minimal reductions every three months – is based on price stability.

Fuel prices were last reduced at the beginning of January – with diesel reduced by 4c per litre, and unleaded petrol down 3c/litre. The next price reduction has been set for April.