Fuel Prices in Morocco Rise Despite Global Oil Trends

Fuel prices experienced an increase at the beginning of January (20 cents), then another on January 17, recalls Les Inspirations Éco, indicating that, according to experts, this trend should continue until the end of February. The price of diesel should reach 12 dirhams per liter. This price increase observed in Morocco contrasts with the evolution of oil prices over the past six weeks, analyzes an energy expert, quoted by the daily.

"This differential reflects the gap between the time when the Moroccan oil company procures and the time when the merchandise arrives in Morocco. This synchronization process was working normally until September 2022. Since then, prices have exceeded the norms due to the standard deviation, which measures the difference between the theoretical price and the actual price. In theory, this difference should not exceed 2.6 times the standard deviation, but current prices have largely exceeded this threshold, which partly explains why the nine distributors have been criticized by the Competition Council," he explains.

Morocco could mitigate these fluctuations by ensuring better management of its stocks, believes Zineb El Adaoui, President of the Court of Auditors. "Since the adoption of the strategy in 2009, the strategic stocks of petroleum products have never reached the 60-day threshold. For example, in 2023, the reserves of diesel, gasoline and butane gas did not exceed 32, 31 and 37 days respectively. In addition, the diversification of entry points for these products remains limited, with only one addition in Tanger Med," she specifies.

"The current capacities are insufficient. To reach the 60-day strategic stock, we would need about one million tons, while the current capacities only cover 20 days, or half of what would be necessary," notes the expert. For his part, Mostafa Labrak, general manager of Energytium Consulting, argues that "the constitution of a strategic stock would not have a significant effect on local prices, due to the high volatility of world prices. In addition, the necessary investments are considerable: the cost of equipment exceeds 5,000 dirhams per cubic meter, not to mention the supply needs."