What influences high level of engine fuels in Poland – analysis of price determinants in 2011-2012

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to investigate the factors which affect high retail prices of petrol in Poland since the beginning of 2011. The subject of the paper is an extensive analysis of the retail fuel price’s components, in particular: cost of crude oil purchase, cost of refining, cost of logistics and marketing, levied taxes, wholesale and retail margin. The author takes special notice of the causes of fluctuations of crude oil prices between 2011 and 2012. The focus is also on the matter of the relation between demand and supply of petrol on Polish and European market and also on the issue of behavioral patterns represented by buyers and suppliers of the goods. This paper serves a brief introduction into the issue of whether and to what extent one could constrain the influence of the factors which affect the retail fuel prices in Poland, herein mainly wholesale and retail margins and rates of taxes levied by the Polish government.