A representative of the fuel industry has predicted that the State’s consumer protection watchdog will find “no improper behaviour” during its investigation into claims of price gouging here in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East.
Kevin McPartlan, the chief executive of the Fuels for Ireland lobby group, made the remarks after he and other fuel supplier representatives met Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke on Friday.
Politicians have raised allegations of price gouging here in the immediate aftermath of the military action taken by the United States and Israel on Iran last Saturday.
The price of home heating oil leapt more than 50 per cent in less than a week and there are concerns that petrol and diesel prices will reach €2 per litre at the pumps.
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The Government is bracing for the impact of higher fuel costs in the coming days, with some Ministers more pessimistic than others about the likely extent of price hikes.
Earlier this week Burke asked the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to investigate claims of price gouging. He also arranged a meeting with fuel industry representatives, which took place on Friday.
Afterwards he described the meeting as “constructive” and highlighted the CCPC investigation, saying fuel providers indicated they are “more than happy to co-operate fully”.
Burke said the CCPC “has a strong mandate to protect consumers and ensure competition law is fully complied with”.
He also said it was brought to his attention that there has been “significant abuse” of retail workers in recent days amid fuel price increases, that “this behaviour is unacceptable”, and “no one should take their frustration out on any retail worker”.
Speaking after the meeting, McPartlan also said it was “constructive”. He said three executives from companies Fuels for Ireland represents spoke about different points in the supply chain, and the meeting was told about price increases on global wholesale markets.
This includes a 74 per cent increase in kerosene prices – the kind of fuel used for home heating oil in Ireland – on one index since Friday last week. The corresponding increases for diesel and petrol were 48 per cent and 15 per cent respectively McPartlan said.
McPartlan said the CCPC investigation was welcome and he predicted it would find “there’s no improper behaviour when it comes to pricing”.
McPartlan said a number of factors have led to the increase in home heating fuel. These include a lower proportion of the price comprising of tax compared to petrol and diesel, meaning “movement on the commodity prices is more sharp”. He also said much of the kerosene used in Europe transits through the Straits of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula – a key route that has been disrupted by the conflict.
Sinn Féin’s Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty claimed the meeting between Burke and fuel industry representatives “looks increasingly like a pointless exercise in political theatre”.
Separately, Minister for Climate and Energy Darragh O’Brien has said that Ireland’s fuel supply chains are “reliable and all appropriate contingency arrangements are in place”.
It comes after a meeting of the Government’s Energy Security Group which was convened to discuss the implications of the situation in the Middle East.
