Oil prices reach $112.28 per barrel

The price of OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes rose by $0.79 late on Tuesday and stood at $112.28, up from $111.49/barrel the previous day, the organisation reported. The increase is of 0.71%. Concerned by the price rise, French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault announced on Wednesday that his Government will temporarily cut the excise duty on petrol to cap the pressure on fuel prices.

“The chance for the Council of Finance Ministers to accept our proposal for a lower excise duty on energy products in Bulgaria is insignificant,” Finance Minister Simeon Djankov commented on Nova TV on Wednesday. The reason is that an approval by all the other 26 EU Member States is necessary and some of them will even have to hold a referendum. The proposal will be considered in October, but even if it is adopted, it will be applied only as of January 2014.

In the spring of 2012, it became clear that Bulgaria had proposed the introduction of a differentiated rate of excise duty on fuels in the EU. The idea is to render the tax proportional to the respective GDP or to the purchasing power per capita. “If the proposal is approved, the excise duties in Bulgaria may become much lower than their current levels and this will affect the prices of goods,” Djankov pointed out. Currently, fuel prices in our country are formed as follows: the set excise duty, which is the lowest in the EU, accounts for 45%; the price of the crude, which is in turn influenced by international markets, accounts for 40%, and the remaining 15% depends on transportation, production, labour and storage costs in Bulgaria.

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