The price of unleaded gasoline could reach € 2 euros in the urban centres, while it is € 2.2 on some islands, as the vice president of the Association of Gas Station Owners and Traders, George Asmatoglou told public radio broadcaster ERT.
“The average price today stands at € 1.90 nationwide, which is a very high price for unleaded gasoline, as well as for heating oil and diesel which is an energy cost for all products produced but also for services that raise the cost and so the one who ultimately pays for it is the consumer”, he said.
The course of cost of the refined oil product is steadily on an upward trend and if it makes a decline for a while, it goes upwards again, said Mr. Asmatoglou. The very small reductions that have taken place have not only not been seen but in the immediate future the reduction, as it is quickly covered by the cost fluctuation and prices go up again.
“The upward trend continues little by little every day, I see it in the refinery forecasts that tomorrow will be additional, as today the increase was quite high for those who will get fuel compared to yesterday’s charge. The fuel that the gas station owners will buy today is more expensive, as it will be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, according to the forecasts”.
He added that these prices have greatly affected the consumer’s wallet. “We saw it with the heating oil, with the snow, the quantities that had been ordered were very small, the tanks were empty and where the distribution could not take place, at least in the northern suburbs where it snowed a lot, many houses were left without oil. They had no other way of heating, with the elderly and you can not imagine what we faced these days.”
“Something must be done,” stressed Asmatoglou, noting that the problem is not only domestic but concerns the whole of Europe. “In island Greece, in some areas, the price of gasoline exceeds 2.20 euros and we will reach 2 euros in large urban centers,” he noted.