Gasoline prices in Russia jumped by 8%

Since the beginning of December, prices for AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline have risen by 8%, to 48 thousand rubles. and almost 49 thousand rubles. per ton, respectively. As noted by Kommersant, against the background of the weak ruble exchange rate, oilmen are striving to supply gasoline for export. In the context of a decrease in export duties and a 4% increase in excise taxes in January, gasoline sales in the domestic market look less attractive for producers than supplies abroad.

“Theoretically, the state should compensate companies for part of the losses from the sale of fuel within the country through a damper, but in January it is the companies that will pay by this mechanism to the budget”, - the newspaper notes.

If in November prices for AI-95 and AI-92 gasoline were steadily declining, in December they resumed their growth. Experts explain the current situation by a decrease in supply on the domestic market amid heated holiday demand.

Gasoline sales on the domestic market for producers have been looking less profitable for more than 6 weeks than export fuel supplies. According to the Central Dispatch Office of the Fuel and Energy Complex, from December 16 to 22, gasoline production in Russia increased by 2.6% compared to the previous week. However, its supplies to the domestic market decreased by 2.2%, while inventories at refineries and tank farms fell by 3.6%.

The rise in wholesale gasoline prices continues amid an increase in oil prices, which at the beginning of 2021 rose by almost 10% to $ 56 per barrel. Considering the weak exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar, as well as the decrease in export duties on petroleum products due to the tax maneuver, the export of gasoline looks very attractive for producers.

The results were not long in coming: in January, compared with the December average, European quotes for gasoline increased by almost 15%, and for diesel fuel - by 9%. Experts warn that now the actual rise in retail prices for gasoline is lower than inflation, which is fraught with losses for representatives of the oil industry.