The maximum price of 95 octane gasoline at self-service pumps in Israel will rise by NIS 0.10-15 per liter, from NIS 5.84 to NIS 5.94-5.99 on Saturday at midnight, May 1, the fuel companies estimate. This rise follows a NIS 0.30 increase at the beginning of April after a long period of sharp falls in gasoline prices as oil prices tumbled on world markets. The gasoline price rise will be offset by a NIS 0.04 fall per liter in excise.
Gasoline prices had been falling consistently in Israel for the past two years as oil prices plunged worldwide but over the past few months the trend has been reversed with oil prices up 40% since February. Over the past month alone, oil prices have risen 17%, despite the failure of oil cartel talks in Qatar, due to a fire in Nigeria, a breakdown in Venezuela's electricity grid, and a strike in Kuwait. Even after the rise of the past few months, oil prices are still 55% lower than two years ago.
In fact 67% of the gasoline price in Israel is current comprised of tax payments - mainly excise but also 17% VAT.
Eran Vaknin CEO of Ten Petroleum Co., which operates 55 gas stations around Israel, said, "The fall in the price of petroleum over the past year has translated into a 6% rise in consumption in 2015. Now that the trend is a rise in prices, the hope is that Israeli consumers will again start examining and comparing prices and the quality of services at the country's gas stations."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 26, 2016
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