ANKARA: While global oil prices have fallen, Turkish fuel prices continue to increase, as recent figures from the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK) show that customers are paying twice or more in taxes than they are for the gasoline itself.
Following recent price hikes, a customer purchasing 55 liters of gasoline is paying TL 65 for the gas itself but an additional TL 156 in taxes, while someone purchasing the same amount in diesel fuel is paying TL 66 for the diesel and TL 119 in taxes, according to the EPDK.
These recent increases further indicate that Turkish consumers won’t benefit from the major fall in global oil prices as the high taxes continue to rise while the Turkish lira plummets against the dollar.
Constituting the third price hike in a week, gasoline and diesel prices increased by TL 0.05 per liter as of midnight on Tuesday, and the price of unleaded gasoline has gone up to TL 4.64 per liter in the province of İstanbul and TL 4.65 in both Ankara and İzmir.
The price of a liter of diesel fuel, in the meantime, rose to TL 3.96 in İstanbul, TL 3.99 in Ankara and to TL 3.92 in İzmir. Last Wednesday, the prices rose by TL 0.11 per liter across the country and by TL 0.07 on Friday as a result of the Turkish lira depreciating against the US dollar.
Even though Turkish energy watchdog EPDK fined oil distributors in October and November for not setting prices that reflect the change in world prices, the major burden on Turkish gas prices comes from indirect taxes included in pump prices.
According to a 2014 report prepared by the EPDK, the proportion of taxes in Turkish gas prices surged to 63 percent per liter of 95-octane unleaded gas and 54 percent per liter of diesel.
In 2000, only TL 0.367 was levied on the price of liter of gas by the government as tax; however, the figure had skyrocketed to TL 2.936 by 2014.
A report published by Bloomberg late last year showed Turkey as having the second most expensive gas prices in the world after Norway, a country where income levels make buying gas comparatively much more affordable.
