Morocco Fuel Prices Spark Outrage as Distributors Profit Amid Cost of Living Crisis

The price of diesel does not drop below 11.80 dirhams (+2 dirhams) and that of gasoline not below 13.70 dirhams (+2.78 dirhams), at the distribution stations in Mohammedia and the surrounding area. Meanwhile, the players in the sector are making considerable gains at the expense of consumers. The profits of the players remain high, despite the severe reports of the Competition Council and the desperate attempts of some sites and mandated experts to normalize Moroccans with the exorbitant profits made on hydrocarbons, which do not drop below 8 billion dirhams per year, confirmed Houssine Yamani, denouncing a predation of the purchasing power of Moroccans.

The current price of diesel is made up of only 38% of the cost of crude oil, while 60% of the price is divided between the profits of the players (22%) and the costs of refining, taxes and transport (38%). This shows that the government could reduce fuel prices by lowering the margins of distributors, by relaunching oil refining in Morocco with the reopening of the Samir company, and by revising the tax burden on hydrocarbons, analyzes Yamani. According to his union, if the government decided to return to a price cap and setting of fuel prices, according to the calculations applied before the end of 2015, the price per liter of diesel at the distribution stations in Morocco should not exceed 9.83 dirhams, and that per liter of gasoline should not exceed 10.92 dirhams, and this during the first half of October 2024.

The second quarterly report of the Competition Council shows that the national supply of diesel and gasoline recorded a total import volume of 1.47 million tons in the first quarter, an increase of 9.1% in volume and 0.9% in value compared to the same period the previous year. Diesel continued to account for about 91% of the volume and value of imports, by fuel type. As for the share of imports made by the distribution companies concerned by the report (9 companies), it approached about 87% in terms of volume and value in total market imports during the period mentioned.

The volume imports of these companies increased by about 5% compared to the same period the previous year, from 1.21 million tons in 2023 to about 1.27 million tons in 2024, a difference of 63,000 tons. The value of imports reached 11.21 billion dirhams during the period mentioned, compared to 11.53 billion dirhams for the same period the previous year, with a difference of about 327 million dirhams, i.e. a decrease of 3%, the report specifies.