‘It’s a nightmare’ as fuel prices hit hard
Thomas Lyons
As motorists and homeowners expressed dismay with the impact of oil prices surging well over $100 a barrel for the first time in nearly four years, one sector is feeling the pinch more than others.
The shocking rise in fuel costs will affect everything from the price at the pump to the cost of bread.
Irish hauliers held crisis talks at the weekend and issued a stark warning to the government warning of the prospect of rolling protests blocking key arteries, routes and airports in the coming days.
Brent crude futures were up by $15.51 to $108.20 per barrel on Monday morning, setting up for the largest ever increase in a single day.
“We are to the pin of our collar at the moment,” MJ McCormack of McCormack Haulage Services told the Westmeath Examiner on a Monday as he was trying to contact customers to explain his predicament.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East has caused concern about oil security and disrupted the logistics of global supplies.
Hauliers have said the situation has highlighted Ireland’s dysfunctional market for fuel, where the government is taking more than 65% of the price of a litre of petrol and more than 60% of the price of a litre of diesel.
Ireland is also one of a small number of member states in the EU that is charging a carbon tax of 18.74c on every litre, which will rise to 26.8c by 2030. The Westmeath haulier says the problem for motorists, who have seen the prices increased at many service stations to over…
€2 for diesel, are particularly damaging to hauliers: “We’re trying to see if we can get a levy on each of the deliveries. Some customers are agreeing, some of them are not. If they don’t agree, we won’t be able to do any more business with them. We just can’t do it. If it was 5c or 6c we could absorb it, you wouldn’t pass any remarks.
“But it’s shot up. We buy fuel cards; Corrib or CSC or DCI or Apple Green, whichever happens to be the cheapest. On February 23, Corrib or Apple Green was just around €1.38 plus VAT,they are now at €1.62 plus VAT. This could finish us because we’re working on such small margins.”
Since last week, Irish consumers have watched as the costs of heating oil, petrol and diesel prices have shot up as a result of the conflict, and government sources say the issue will be examined.
A fill of 500 litres of home heating oil rose from less than €500 to €833 in the last week.
“It’s just a nightmare,” MJ McCormack says. “As this goes on, it’s going to affect the price of everything.”