Moroccan Fuel Prices Remain High Despite Global Oil Price Drop

Following the collapse of crude oil prices to around 60 dollars per barrel, against the backdrop of a trade war initiated by the Trump administration, diesel prices have fallen on the international market, reaching an average of 5.20 dirhams per liter during the first half of April, and an average of about 4.90 dirhams for gasoline, notes El Houssine El Yamani, Secretary General of the National Union of Oil and Gas Industries and member of the National Council of the Democratic Labor Confederation (CDT), quoted by Le360. This sharp drop in oil prices should in principle lead to a considerable decrease in fuel prices.

If the old calculation formula - abandoned since the market liberalization in 2015 - were still applied, the selling price in Morocco should be below 9.41 dirhams for diesel and below 10.87 dirhams for gasoline during the second half of April. This is not the case. Diesel and gasoline have only seen a slight decrease since Wednesday, April 16: only 20 cents per liter. In Casablanca, diesel is displayed at 10.75 dirhams per liter at Afriquia, Total and Vivo Energy (Shell) service stations, and at 10.72 dirhams at Petrom and Winxo outlets, Le360 was able to observe. As for gasoline, distributors Afriquia, Total and Vivo Energy (Shell) sell it at 12.83 dirhams per liter. Petrom and Winxo sell it at 12.80 dirhams.

Distribution companies have passed on the entire decrease in purchase costs to the selling prices of gasoline, estimated the Competition Council in its latest report. However, for diesel, the decrease in selling prices was 20 cents per liter higher than that of purchase costs. The same report specifies that distributors’ gross margins are slightly down in the fourth quarter of 2024: 1.28 dirhams per liter for diesel and 1.67 dirhams for gasoline. These margins are lower than the averages observed in the 3rd quarter of the same year (1.46 DH/L for diesel and 2 DH/L for gasoline), it is specified.