State-owned petrol giant Orlen S.A. is using military oil tankers to deliver fuel to stations after reduced prices led to major shortages all over the country, the company announced over the weekend.
Orlen has been accused of artificially lowering prices to help the government’s re-election bid, but denied such claims. Low prices have encouraged drivers to buy larger amounts of fuel, which caused the demand to rise three to four times and resulted in shortages. Signs hanging at stations inform consumers of the “breakdown of petrol pumps.”
The company confirmed that it used military tankers, “as many times in the past” to “facilitate its logistics in faster deliveries of Orlen’s products.” Having said that, it “unequivocally denied suggestions (…) about Orlen using military fuel reserves,” which it called “fake news.”
Orlen’s announcement confirmed earlier reports by Polityka Insight, which predicted as early as last month that the army would support the main Polish petrol company in solving the fuel shortage problem.
Polityka Insight also reported that Orlen would use the strategic military reserves to increase the supply at the stations, which the company now denied. Still, the prices of diesel at the Orlen stations dropped significantly over the last months in spite of the rising oil prices in the world’s markets.
According to Polityka Insight journalist Robert Tomaszewski, Orlen has been undercutting fuel prices since July, and the reserves would suffice for the company to continue to do so until the elections on 15 October.
However, fuel prices in Poland are not expected to rise any time soon, Piotr Maciążek, a journalist at Strefa Inwestorów business news outlet, told Polskie Radio. This is due to the falling price trend in the world’s oil markets.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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