After recent inflationary pressures on oil in the last two years, petrol prices in Morocco have yet to stabilize to usual rates, but expectations are high for a cost change nearing normalcy.
According to Houssein Yamani, Head of the National Front to Save Moroccan Petroleum Refinery SAMIR, the price of a liter of diesel should not exceed MAD 11.69, and the price of a liter of gasoline should not exceed MAD 12.45 from March 1st to mid-March.
“Any cent above this price is considered an obscene profit in fuel that’s added to the accounts of distributors.”
In a statement to Hespress, the representative reacted to speculation on the prices of diesel and gasoline in recent days, saying that fuel companies “continue to accumulate obscene profits, despite sanctions issued by the Competition Council.”
Fuel distributors “ignored the changes in the international oil market, which witnessed a decline in prices last February,” said Yamani.
“The biggest loser in the liberalization of the fuel market remains the consumer, who has been forced to buy gasoline and diesel at prices that exceed their realistic cost,” Yamani added, stressing that “prices will continue their upward trend as long as the SAMIR, the domestic market’s refinery and safety valve, is none functional.”
The general secretary of the National Union for Petroleum and Gas, affiliated to the Democratic Confederation of Labor, pointed out that “between the first and second half of last month, the price of a barrel of oil on the international market fell by more than $2 (from $83 to $81), and the price of a ton of gasoline fell by about $4, while the price of a ton of gasoline rose by more than $22.”
The same source added that “returning to the calculation of the sale price to the public, as it was before the decision to liberalize fuel prices based on international prices, the exchange rate of the dollar and the cost of delivery to Morocco, as of March 1 to mid-March, the price of a liter of gasoline should not exceed MAD 11.69, and the price of a liter of gasoline should not exceed MAD 12.45.”
“The obscene profits in the accounts of fuel importers and distributors are linked to the indiscriminate liberalization of the fuel market in Morocco, and a clear evidence of the failure of the Competition Council and all concerned authorities in managing the petroleum energy file, starting with privatization, removal of subsidies, price liberalization, and silence over the collapse of SAMIR,” the union said.
The way distributors calculate the selling prices at stations is based on the prices of gasoline and gasoline on the Rotterdam exchange, as long as the imports concern only refined products, since the only refinery in Morocco, SAMIR, has been inactive since 2016. These are high prices compared to the price of a barrel of oil.
The prices of “gasoline” and gasoline consist of a fixed and variable part, as the imported materials are subject to tax duties, such as the internal tax on consumption, set at 242 dirhams per ton, and the value-added tax at 10% on the value of the imported quantities, in addition to other costs before leaving the port, although their rate is fixed and determined, their value can change if the price of the mentioned materials increases.
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