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The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection analyzes the wholesale and retail prices offered by PKN Orlen in October and wants to check whether the practice of reducing margins has been applied. This is the result of the Ministry of Energy's response to the parliamentary inquiry.
The question of the state of the fuel market in Poland was raised in the interpellation of Deputies Zofia Czernow and Aldona Młyńczak. As stated in the expert opinions, in early October (before local elections – ed.), Diesel fuel prices in railway stations were lower than wholesale prices.
"One of the potential causes of this phenomenon is the possible imposition of a price cap by the oil companies belonging to the Treasury: Lotos Group and PKN Orlen," explained MEPs.
According to them, the companies "decided to pay extra for every liter of diesel sold, so as to maintain the assumed price level, avoid price increases and, at the same time – as dominant market players – to influence the fact that other players in the fuel sector will adopt similar prices ".
In the meantime, as they have pointed out, the situation in the global fuel market has not created the conditions for a possible price reduction of diesel and diesel fuel. petrol. In September and October, a barrel of Brent crude oil was valued for the four highest years. The West Texas Intermediate barrel was also maintained at high levels during this period.
"Has the Ministry of Energy carried out or intends to carry out analyzes that will indicate the causes of the phenomena described in this inquiry?" The Ministry of Energy a- does it take place or does it intend to take measures to control the pricing policy adopted by Grupa Lotos and PKN Orlen to analyze the possibility of a voluntary reduction? retail price of the diesel to avoid increases? "- asked the deputies of the PO.
Orlen under the magnifying glass of UOKiK
The undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Energy, Tomasz Dąbrowski, responded to the inquiry that he had acknowledged in October a significant increase in wholesale prices of diesel, both on the Polish market only on the European market. Among the reasons, he mentioned, among other things, the rise in oil prices and the disruption of the diesel market in Europe.
"Polish retail diesel prices also rose in October of this year, although more slowly
compared to wholesale prices. By analyzing wholesale and retail prices on an ongoing basis, we can see
that the wholesale prices of diesel were higher, which resulted in negative margins of the sellers
retail business. Nevertheless, it should be recalled that, generally, the retail fuel market reacts late to wholesale price changes, "Dąbrowski explained.
The retail margin is part of the price of a liter of fuel and represents not only the profit of the owner of the station, but also the amount to cover the operating costs of the station.
Dąbrowski added that "the analysis of available data shows that the sudden rise in wholesale prices of diesel fuel in early October has resulted in much higher retail prices during the second half of the month" . At the same time, he said that "in November of this year, the wholesale price of diesel fuel is systematically decreasing, which does not mean a decrease in retail prices of this fuel ".
The undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Energy said that UOKiK was analyzing the wholesale and retail prices offered by PKN Orlen and wanted to check if the practice of lowering margins was applied.
"Regarding suspicions of fuel market irregularities in October this year, UOKiK announced that a preliminary analysis of wholesale and retail prices proposed by PKN Orlen SA was under way to determine if the practice of lowering margins was used "- wrote the representative of the Ministry. .
See the response of the Ministry of Energy to the Parliamentary Inquiry
Until the publication of the material, we could not get the comment from PKN Orlen.
In early November, the president of PKN Orlen Daniel Obajtek'showever, he justified the fact that the company "was trying to maintain its volume by increasing its volume" price"fuels", although this has no effect on pricebarrels of oil.
– We do everything like the Polish concerto to get these pricehave been stabilized because this has a very important impact on the economy – he stressed Obajtek.
"Wonders" in train stations
Experts have already discussed the issue of margins used by oil companies. – This is the moment when station owners make up for the loss of margin that was not present in October, especially diesel, said TVN24 BiS Urszula Cieślak of BM Reflex in mid-November, commenting on the lack of reaction to falling oil prices.
According to Dawid Czopek of the Polaris Investment Fund, local elections could have influenced price behavior. "Miracles happen at gas stations," he said.
Companies in Poland
According to data from the Polish Organization of Petroleum Industry and Trade, at the end of September PKN Orlen had the largest number of stations – 1774 stations, 57 of which were under the Bliska logo. This is two stations less than at the end of 2017, but at the same time 16 stations more than at the end of September of last year.
BP was in second place. 542 belonged to the network, compared to 537 at the end of last year. The group Lotos came third. The company had 488 stations in its portfolio, including 198 under the Optima logo.
Just behind the podium was Shell with 420 objects. The first five were completed by CircleK, 348 stations belonging to the network.
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