Cyprus fuel prices set to rise further as diesel reaches record levels

Nicosia, Cyprus. Further increases in fuel prices are expected over the coming days, petrol station owners’ association chairman Savvas Prokopiou said on Wednesday, as diesel retail prices reached record levels.

Oil prices and calls for support

Prokopiou said Brent crude had recently steadied at “just over $100” a barrel. Information obtained by the Cyprus Mail showed a price of $105.80 on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite that stabilisation, he said fuel prices would keep rising because components such as value added tax are incorporated proportionately into wholesale prices. He added that substantial revenue consequently flowed into government coffers.

Prokopiou urged the finance ministry to assist vulnerable people and professionals for whom fuel represents the largest expense. He also called for the ministry to “double the heating oil subsidy” for residents of mountainous areas.

On September 30, the government cut heating oil excise duty to 2.1 cents per litre from 7.4 cents. What doubling the support would involve therefore remains unclear.

Petrol prices across Cyprus

By Wednesday afternoon, 95-octane petrol averaged €1.759 per litre at retail outlets. Three stations shared the highest recorded price, €1.829: Shell in Timi, a village in Paphos district; Petrolina in Latsia, a Nicosia suburb; and Eni in Strovolos, also a Nicosia suburb.

The lowest recorded petrol price was €1.669 per litre at Fill ‘n’ Go in Pyrga, a village in Larnaca district.

Diesel exceeds €2 per litre on average

Diesel averaged €2.019 per litre. The highest recorded price, €2.126, was at the Petrolina station along the seafront road in Limassol, close to the Kean factory and The Oval.

Fill ‘n’ Go in Pyrga also offered the Republic of Cyprus’s lowest diesel price, at €1.939 per litre.