Hong Kong to issue weekly updates on fuel charges to counter price gouging

Hong Kong authorities will issue weekly announcements about the changes in international and local fuel costs from April, following mounting suspicion that businesses are prematurely raising prices because of the United States-Israeli war on Iran. The move announced on Saturday was welcomed by experts, although some said prices were ultimately out of the government’s hands and it should consider temporarily cutting the fuel tax if levels soared. “We are currently collecting and organising data. Starting from April 1, we will release some comparison reports showing the trend of discounted prices from each fuel company in Hong Kong and international refined oil prices,” Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told a radio programme. “We will release this information to the public once a week, allowing residents to monitor oil price changes more accurately.” Tse said the updates would allow residents to see whether fuel companies were raising prices too fast or acting too slowly to bring them back down again. Hong Kong’s fuel is mainly supplied by mainland China, according to the minister. He added that Hong Kong’s supply was stable despite the city not storing fuel as a strategic reserve. “There will not be an unstable supply in the foreseeable future,” he said. “Of course, pricing needs to be handled through market mechanisms.” The Environment and Ecology Bureau said in a social media post it had met with major local fuel suppliers, reiterating the vital importance of energy to the local economy and urging them to maintain a stable supply. It added that all suppliers had said the current supply of fuel for vehicles remained normal. The bureau also touched on public concerns about paying more at the pump, citing suppliers as saying that compared with the sharp increase in prices for refined oil and vehicle fuel in other places, local levels remained relatively restrained. “Starting April 1, the Environment and Ecology Bureau will release weekly updates to the public on the discounted retail prices of unleaded petrol and diesel from various vehicle fuel suppliers, as well as the market benchmark prices of international refined petroleum products during the same period,” it said. “This will help the public monitor the trends, relationships and changes between local vehicle fuel retail prices and international refined petroleum product prices.” Petrol retailers were earlier accused of swiftly raising prices as the conflict erupted in the Middle East, even though the city had not yet exhausted its weeks’ worth of stockpile. Chau Kwok-keung, chairman of the Smart Mobility Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the government’s latest measure, saying the improved transparency would allow for greater public monitoring and prevent oil companies from raising prices too fast or acting too slowly to lower them. “Residents feel that when oil prices rise, companies immediately increase their prices, but when oil prices fall, do they immediately reduce their prices? No,” Chau said. “If the government can be more transparent and keep up with the times by publishing information on the rise and fall of international oil prices, we would be very happy to see that.” Lawmaker Lothair Lam Ming-fung, who represents the transport sector, agreed the move would enhance transparency and lead to fairer pricing. “Greater transparency will help the public monitor whether there is any ‘faster increase, slower decrease’ in local fuel prices,” he said. “As fuel costs heavily affect our transport and shipping sectors, I hope this data will also encourage fairer pricing and protect the interests of the trade and the public.” But Ringo Lee Yiu-pui, honorary life president of the Hong Kong, China Automobile Association, doubted the benefits of the weekly data updates, saying authorities’ hands remained tied in controlling price changes. “As consumers, we feel helpless even if we know the prices,” he said. “I think Tse may not be able to control the oil companies’ prices.” Lee called for more government involvement in fuel prices, including cutting the fuel tax when they soared to help alleviate the pressure on consumers. Oil markets have been volatile since the conflict broke out in the Middle East at the end of February, forcing Persian Gulf producers to cut output amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s supply passes. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, was US$112 a barrel on Friday, down from US$119 earlier in the week. That level was the highest since 2022, when it rose above US$120. Before the war, it was trading in the low to mid-US$70s. As of Saturday morning, regular petrol cost HK$31.09 (US$3.97) per litre, while premium was HK$32.89 at all stations except for PetroChina’s, where it was HK$31.09, according to the Consumer Council’s Oil Price Watch. The net prices after walk-in discounts for regular petrol range from HK$22.89 at Caltex to HK$22.49 at Esso, while premium petrol prices range from HK$20.59 at PetroChina to HK$31.29 at Esso. Hong Kong has long been known for having some of the world’s highest pump prices, with the petrol market dominated by five players – ExxonMobil’s Esso, Chevron’s Caltex, Shell, Sinopec and PetroChina – which together operate 178 stations. Analysts have said prices are tied to the cost of land and the city’s full reliance on imported fuel. Of the pump price, HK$6.06 per litre also goes to the government as fuel tax. Economist Simon Lee Siu-po of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen Finance Institute called for greater efforts from authorities. “If the war continues till May or even September, the government can reduce or waive the tax part,” he said. Calling the land premium a root problem, he added: “It can rebate on a per litre basis to help the industry and society.”

Hong Kong to issue weekly updates on fuel charges to counter price gouging

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Environment minister says information will allow public to monitor oil price changes more accurately

Environment minister says information will allow public to monitor oil price changes more accurately