Motorists await diesel competition benefits

Not all fuel pumps stock diesel supplied by Enemalta and, yet, motorists have no way of telling the difference, The Times has learnt. At least a quarter of petrol stations sell diesel imported by a private fuel supplier but, despite a liberalised fuel market, the price everywhere is the same as that set by Enemalta. This means motorists are unaware who their fuel supplier is and, worse still, do not benefit from the competition. When asked about price uniformity, the Malta Resources Authority, which regulates the fuel sector, referred this newspaper to the consumers’ authority. When asked whether it would investigate the matter, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority said fuel prices were fixed by the resources regulator not by the providers. Engineer Francis Farrugia, chairman of the consumer affairs authority, insisted that nobody was keeping the station owners from selling at a lower price than that fixed by the regulator. Mr Farrugia acknowledged that motorists should know who their fuel supplier is “if they want to know” but this was up to the MRA because energy legislation fell under its remit. Engineer Anthony Rizzo, the chief executive at MRA, said the...