The Irish Times reports that motorists here are being charged up to 20% more for diesel and petrol compared to consumers in other EU member states, according to official European Commission figures. Prices for oil products before tax show that petrol in Ireland is 11% more expensive than the EU average, diesel is 20% dearer and home heating oil is 13% more expensive.The figures show that over the last six months Irish prices have changed from being much cheaper than EU prices to being much dearer. In the case of diesel, for example, prices have moved from being 13% cheaper in May to be being 20% dearer in October.
Maxol chief executive Tom Noonan said: "Ireland being the farthest island off the centre of Europe, most of the oil comes from refineries in the UK. The stuff has to be brought into Ireland by ship, so the distribution system is quite a costly one. We in Maxol made just over €10 million on a turnover of €700 million in 2007, which is hardly excessive by any standards. I can assure you that, no more than any other business in this country, we are not in a position to profiteer. Our margins are particularly low and incessant and ill-informed talk about oil prices does no one any good," Mr Noonan added.
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