On Thursday, sociology professor Stefán Ólafsson noted on his blog that while oil prices have dropped by 50% on global markets, prices in Iceland have only decreased by 20%. “Icelandic oil companies have in other words held a decent share of the price drop for themselves,” he wrote.
Crude oil prices have dropped from over US$ 115 per barrel in June 2014, to below US$ 50 last week. Early December, when prices had already dropped below US$ 67, or by 42%, Kjarninn reported that the retail price drop in Iceland during the same period, amounted to only 12.8%. Meanwile, airline Icelandair reduced their plan tickets’ fuel fees by only 15%.
The medium mentioned that traditionally, local oil companies explain their hesitation in implementing price reductions be referring to currency fluctuations and their stock, already bought at higher prices. On December 20, interviewed by RÚV, N1 CEO Eggert Benedikt Guðmundsson, did just that, and said that Icelandic oil vendors had not increased their markup.
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