Criticism of forecourt workers for fuel price hikes ‘unacceptable’ – minister

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, Press Association

It is “unacceptable” that forecourt workers are experiencing abuse for fuel price hikes, the enterprise minister said.

Peter Burke made the comments after meeting with forecourt operators and home heating suppliers about dramatic rises in fuel costs since the US and Israel began bombing Iran.

Caoimhe Maloney, who owns Kavanagh Fuel in Urlingford, Co Kilkenny, said that the cost for them to purchase fuel had significantly increased this week and “nobody is making any money out of it”.

She said there had been an eight cent increase per litre of fuel most days this week.

“My fear is that it will be over two euro (by Saturday), I think possibly €2.02,” she told RTE Radio.

“People are scared and they’re bulk buying on the forecourt.”

TDs have said the price of home heating oil had “effectively doubled” in a matter of days, and urged the Government to help citizens with the “outrageous” costs.

The Government has said the Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is to investigate claims of price gouging over fuel.

Earlier in the week, Burke said “the price of crude oil bears no reflection on what’s happening in the Irish market”, where he said there had been a 50 per cent increase in prices for some customers.

He said he had given the CCPC “very clear examples in relation to where prices have gone up very significantly that are not reflected in the international markets”.

Burke made the comments a day before he met with representatives of the fuel industry on Friday.

“I had a constructive meeting today with representatives from the fuel industry,” Mr Burke said in a statement.

“I welcomed the opportunity to discuss the current energy market and pricing structures, along with the international factors impacting costs in a very uncertain geopolitical environment.

“I highlighted the current CCPC investigation, and providers expressed that they are more than happy to cooperate fully and will encourage their members to do the same.

“The CCPC has a strong mandate to protect consumers and ensure competition law is fully complied with.

People think that Brent crude is the indicator - Brent crude has a lag of a couple of weeks on the impact that it has, and even then, it has about as much impact on the price of a litre of fuel as the price of beef has on a Big Mac

“It was brought to my attention that retail workers have come under significant abuse in recent days.

“I want to make it clear that this behaviour is unacceptable, and no-one should take their frustration out on any retail worker.

“My Department continues to engage with the sector as matters evolve, including through the Government’s Energy Security Group, which meets regularly.”

Chief executive of Fuels for Ireland, Kevin McPartland, said that the global wholesale price of kerosene had increased by 74 per cent, diesel by 48 per cent and petrol by 15 per cent, between last Friday and Thursday night.

He said a rise to the cost base was behind the fuel price hike in Ireland and that Brent crude was not the right indicator for fuel prices.

“About half of our fuel is coming from from a refinery in the UK. That doesn’t mean that the crude oil is coming from the UK, but that’s where it’s coming through,” he told RTÉ Radio.

There is no legal obligation on companies to set their prices at a level that consumers will consider fair

“When that vessel leaves the port in Wales, it arrives in Dublin six hours later, it is unloaded, and it can go straight into trucks.

“People think that Brent crude is the indicator – Brent crude has a lag of a couple of weeks on the impact that it has, and even then, it has about as much impact on the price of a litre of fuel as the price of beef has on a Big Mac.

“It’s really just a small part of the overall piece.

“We have to recognise that the indicator that is important is the commodity price for kerosene, diesel and petrol, and they’re available online, Platts is the index.

“And we’re actually slightly behind that in the price increases in Ireland. So far from profiteering – the meeting you mentioned I was in with Minister Burke this morning – he heard from a forecourt operator, he heard from heating oil distributors, that they are actually losing money on the fuel that they’re selling currently.”

The CCPC said earlier this week that companies “can set, and increase, their own prices, but they must do so independently”.

“There is no legal obligation on companies to set their prices at a level that consumers will consider fair.”