The sale of heating oil for this winter will begin this week under particularly favourable conditions thanks to the rapid decline of international oil rates.
The price of heating fuel for households entitled to the relevant benefit is returning to the lower end of the range, last seen before the special consumption tax on heating oil was levelled with that on diesel a couple of years ago. Regular consumers will be able to purchase their heating oil for about 1.05-1.06 euros per litre, while those receiving the benefit will only pay 0.72 euros/lt, with an increase expected in remote parts of the country.
The low starting price this season is attributed to the drop in crude oil rates by 20 per cent in the last three months and the reduction of the special consumption tax by 30 per cent.
Nevertheless fuel station owners report that 70 per cent of those based outside the country’s main urban centres are not yet ready to sell heating oil after failing to install inflow-outflow monitoring systems. The law bans the sale of heating oil by stations without the system or by those that fail to send their data on a daily basis to the Finance Ministry. The market anticipates a short grace period in the country’s remote areas.
Source: Kathimerini.