“It seems to me that the price of a barrel will go up, because we see that the situation in Iran continues to escalate. Threats continue to be exchanged about what will happen in the Strait of Hormuz. And it will obviously remain closed for quite a long time. If it remains closed, this means increasingly higher prices for oil and, accordingly, for fuels“. This was commented on “This Morning“ on bTV by Svetoslav Benchev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association.
“If it remains closed, this means increasingly higher prices for oil and, accordingly, for fuels. Unfortunately, yesterday, the chairman of the International Energy Agency, Mr. Birol, said that this is the worst crisis, perhaps, that has ever been experienced with oil products - even worse than the one in the 1970s. Things, at least at the moment, do not look optimistic at all, but what exactly the crude oil price will reach depends entirely on the escalation of the conflict in Iran,“ he pointed out.
According to him, diesel at some gas stations has already reached 1.60 euros.
"Our prices are extremely good compared to what is happening in the European Union. A report from March 19, the latest from the European Commission, shows that we are 50-52 euro cents cheaper per liter of fuel, regardless of whether it is gasoline or diesel, than the average price in the European Union. And almost 30-40 cents cheaper than Romania", commented Benchev.
He added that the better the aid is differentiated, perhaps it is better for the people.
"We saw what the price ceiling led to in Greece. There, two islands have no fuel supply, simply because the gas stations closed, since they cannot operate below cost - they cannot not make a profit or operate at a loss", noted Svetoslav Benchev.
"We can say this, if 150-160 dollars per barrel are exceeded, things will really get out of control in terms of prices in any situation", commented the chairman of the Bulgarian Oil and Gas Association.
"We have a more serious issue to resolve - and that is the date April 29. The sooner we have permission from the American side so that American sanctions on Lukoil are not applied, the safer it will be for the market. Because we can currently talk about all kinds of contracts, but if on April 29 the refinery cannot pay for the raw material - simply because there is no bank to operate with it - whether there is oil or not, it does not matter. Therefore, I call on the government to start talks with the American side - I know that they have started such talks, so that we have a decision long before April 29. So that the refineries and everyone else on the market can work, have raw material, and we can work so that we can provide the fuels on the market,“ he pointed out.