Mol president: Gambling with the price cap will lead to fuel shortages in Hungary

According to MOL president Zsolt Hernádi, “we started to gamble a little” with the fuel price cap. The price regulation itself raises a serious concern because sooner or later we will face fuel shortages.

The price regulation will have serious consequences

Zsolt Hernádi spoke on ATV about the fuel situation, where he expressed his worries about the price cap. Serious restrictions had to be introduced at Mol stations because it was more important to maintain supply than the price level, he said. Hernádi hopes that they will not have to lower the limit below 50 litres a day. However, he emphasised that this is an extremely critical period. The price cap keeps pushing up domestic fuel consumption, however, fuel imports have practically stopped. Russian oil exports to Europe are decreasing, the Ukrainian refinery capacity has been destroyed, and OMV’s refinery in Schechat was also shut down.

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There is a relative fuel shortage in Hungary

As for the Hungarian refinery in Százhalombatta, there will be partial maintenance in August, meaning that they will have to shut down 65 percent of the refinery. Moreover, Mol’s Bratislava refinery is now at a standstill and will restart on 20 July. As liner.hu reports, the CEO of MOL said that there was a relative fuel shortage in Hungary. Therefore, moderating consumption would be highly important, though it is not easy to implement. In August, 65 percent of Százhalombatta’s capacity will be shut down, but consumption reduction is not proceeding at the appropriate pace, so only 1/3 of the required quantity is currently available. This is why they need the release part of the state’s strategic stock. However, they have to replace this amount afterwards.

“We started to gamble a little” with the price cap

How long can the HUF 480 (EUR 1.18) price cap be maintained? According to Zsolt Hernádi, we have already “started to gamble a little”. There is an increase in consumption in Hungary, and the HUF 480 price will eliminate imports to the country. This is an issue that has to be addressed. He also added that from a market point of view, the price cap must be abolished sooner or later. Due to the HUF 480 price cap not only imports will not enter Hungary, but also they will have to sell what they produce at home. And this, he added, again raises the question of how long the price cap can be maintained.

Mol is preparing for permanently high fuel prices

In addition, the Russians supply 10 percent of the European market with diesel oil. As the oil embargo deadline was approaching, the Russians began to redirect their exports to other regions. For example, India has increased its Russian oil imports by sevenfold, and now China also buys Russian oil. As for Mol, they are preparing for permanently high fuel prices.

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Source: ATV, liner.hu