Government urges fuel companies to lower prices

The government has issued a statement urging fuel companies to lower their prices in Macau due to the significant decrease in the price of petroleum products in international markets. The appeal from the government is a result of complaints from society, namely on social media.
In the past few days, people have been expressing their discontent with the fact that although the prices of fuel products have significant decreased in world markets, local retail sellers are continuing to sell fuel products at the same prices and have not updated their prices according to the changing situation.
A joint statement from the Consumer Council (CC) and the Economic Services Bureau confirmed that the government is watching international fuel prices closely.
“Taking into account that the international price of crude oil recorded recently was influenced by the Covid-19 epidemic, as well as the breaching of the agreement among countries producing limited oil, the international price of crude oil suffered a significant decrease, falling from around $67 (535 patacas) per barrel [at the beginning of January 2020] to around $25 (200 patacas) per barrel [on March 19], a fact that represents a price decrease of about 60%.”
The statement also mentioned that in the same period, the international price of refined oil products has fallen by around $40 per barrel, or as much as two-third of its price at the start of the year.
Although the government acknowledges that local fuel suppliers have reduced retail prices of several products on multiple occasions this year, it also deems it necessary to enforce an immediate adjustment of fuel prices corresponding to the changes in international markets, following the price adjustment guidelines which allow for both the increase and decrease of prices when justified.
In this sense, the government has “urged the sector to adjust the prices for oil products to be consistent with the pace of the international adjustment,” and in this way “respond to the demands of society and the population in general.”
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the CC acknowledged that, according to a survey conducted on March 20, the prices of disinfectant products have held stable in the past week.
“It was found that the prices of the 29 disinfectant products [surveyed], including liquid alcohol, alcohol gel, liquid disinfectant soap, and disinfectant detergent, were similar to the prices recorded in the previous survey,” conducted a week earlier, the CC said in the statement.
The CC also noted that some of these products that are available on the market still have a price variation of between 15% to 30% when compared between stores or suppliers. Consumers are advised to remain alert to this price variation when seeking to acquire such products.
The council also acknowledged that in the latest survey, the number of disinfectant products available in stores had increased significantly compared to last week. This signifies that items have been restocked and prices should be back to normal after recent price hikes resulting from the limited supply and excessive demand for products due to the Covid-19 outbreak.