Petrol price expected to rise by 3%
Following 10% rise in oil prices due to unrest in Libya, price of 95-octane gasoline in self-service pumps set to reach NIS 7.50 per liter
The price of 95-octane gasoline, the only type of fuel still supervised in Israel – is updated on the first day of each month according to a formula based on petrol prices in Italy and France on the last five working days of the month.
The prices of petrol in Europe are influenced directly by the price of oil in international markets, which is currently seeing a sharp rise due to the recent revolutions in the Arab world, and particularly the civil war in Libya. A comparison of oil prices this week and last month shows they have gone up by at least 10%.
The estimate is based on oil prices early this week, and may change in accordance with fluctuations in the black gold's price in the coming days.
The increase in the price of oil is compensated by a 3% drop in the US dollar's exchange rate this month, as oil refineries buy the oil in dollars and sell the fuel in shekels. Consequently, the fuel's shekel price in Europe has gone down by about 6.7% - assuming that the price of oil has gone up by 10%.
The price of fuel in Europe constitutes about 40% of the price of gasoline in Israel, as the rest of the price's components in Israel – the excise tax charged by the State and the profit companies can register – are fixed. The net price hike is therefore 2.7%.
The current petrol price is NIS 7.30 (about $2.05) per liter in self-service pumps, and NIS 7.43 ($2.09) with gas station service. In case of a 20 agorot (5 cents) rise, the price is expected this weekend to reach about NIS 7.50 ($2.11) in self-service pumps and more than NIS 7.60 ($2.14) with gas station service.
Yaron Druckman and Gil Kol contributed to this report
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