Prices for diesel fuel, LNG at Ukrainian filling stations continue to grow

MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) - Prices for diesel fuel at Ukrainian filling stations grew by UAH 1-3/liter and LNG prices by UAH 1-1.4/liter on Thursday, Ukrainian media said after monitoring major filling station chains.

The state-owned oil company Ukrnafta raised diesel fuel prices at its filling stations by UAH 2/liter and LNG prices by UAH 1/liter on April 1, then the move was followed by the Okko chain, and this prompted the other four monitored chains to increase their prices on April 2.

Parallel added UAH 1/liter to its diesel and diesel+ prices, WOG and Socar added UAH 2/liter each, and UPG UAH 3/liter. LNG prices increased by UAH 1/liter at WOG, Socar, and Parallel stations, and by UAH 1.4/liter at UPG stations. Gasoline prices did not change across all chains.

Media cited the Parallel chain as saying in a commentary that Ukrnafta's decision to raise its prices showed that the trend toward growing petroleum product prices around the world was an objective reality, and there were prerequisites for prices to keep growing for all types of fuel.

LNG is also responding to global factors and is rising in price due to a price hike on international markets, particularly because of the events in the Middle East, Parallel said.

At the same time, Sergei Kuyun, director of the A-95 consulting group, said in comments for the media that Ukraine should not experience shortages in fuel, particularly diesel, in April, despite some issues related to imports, as all key players have successfully concluded contracts for April.

Prices for petroleum products would apparently continue to rise due to the growing oil prices, but the situation is very volatile, and everything can change very quickly, Kuyun said.