Supply crisis – Hungary abolishes fuel price cap

Although Hungary had successfully fought the ban on Russian oil supplies and sanctions that came into effect on Monday, there were still fuel supply problems, the Chancellor stressed. According to the general manager of the Hungarian oil company Mol, Zsolt Hernádi, the liter price for petrol should be 645 forints (about 1.55 euros) and for diesel 699 forints (about 1.68 euros). This would remove the chaos at the gas stations, the market would normalize and the importers would return.

Last week, demand for petrol was twice as high as in the same period in 2021, and for diesel 150 percent. Where the daily turnover at MOL filling stations normally amounts to five million litres, that was eight million liters last Tuesday, the director emphasized. MOL mainly had to meet this demand, since imports largely failed to materialize due to the discount that has been in effect since the spring. Importers were put off because they could only sell cheap fuel in Hungary, which had been bought abroad at high prices.

Failure of a large refinery
The supply situation was further worsened by months of maintenance work at a major refinery near Budapest. Meanwhile, the factory in Szazhalombatta has started production again, explains György Bacsa, Managing Director of MOL Hungary. But even MOL’s full capacity could not cover the demand of the Hungarian market.