After the resounding report of the Competition Council on the issue of hydrocarbons, it is the turn of trade unions to put forward a reasoned plea against the Government’s management of these highly sensitive and flammable products. Indeed, the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Industries, affiliated to the Democratic Confederation of Labor (CDT) trade union, has just organized an information day on October 22, in the presence of experts, specialists, and economists, around the theme of “Hydrocarbon prices and the refining of petroleum products in Morocco”, the goal of that meeting being to open a national debate and enlighten public opinion on the technical and economic issues of hydrocarbons, in a context of strong pressure on the prices of raw materials, inflation, the surge of prices in gas stations, and the impact on the purchasing power... According to El Houssine El Yamani, President of the National Front for the Protection of the Samir Refinery (FNSS), “we strongly call on the government to seriously reconsider the structuring current price of hydrocarbons, as well as the capping of prices so that they do not exceed 10 Dirhams (0.92 US$) per liter in gas stations”. In the opinion of the president of the FNSS: “Today more than ever, it is necessary to reactivate the only refinery of Mohammedia. This will make it possible to considerably lower the cost of refining as well as the price per liter at gas stations and above all to increase storage capacities...In a global context characterized by strong disturbances and the total absence of visibility, Morocco cannot afford not to secure its energy needs”. From the outset, the speakers during the meeting mentioned 2016, the year during which the Benkirane government made the decision to remove the subsidy from the Compensation Fund and liberalize the prices of hydrocarbons. “This is what has opened the door to all excesses, since oil distributors have made record profits and accumulated indecent gains which will come close to 50 billion Dirhams (4.6 billion US$) by the end of 2022”, warns El Houssine El Yamani. Meanwhile, he adds, oil companies and distributors continue to increase prices, by simulating low price differentials in gas stations. Worse still, “oil companies immediately hasten to raise prices in gas stations as soon as prices soar on the international market. On the other hand, this almost instantaneous price increase is often not systematic on the day after the drop in the price of a barrel on the world market”, denounces El Yamani. In addition, there are a series of solutions that would make it possible to lower prices. Among these options is the urgency of reactivating the Mohammedia refining site (Translator Note: The refinery was closed in 2015 and declared bankrupt in 2016).
Amin RBOUB
