Estonian fuel retailer: High prices to persist in unprecedented market crisis
The Iran conflict has sparked an unprecedented fuel market crisis, with gasoline prices unlikely to drop for three to four months, Terminal board member Alan Vaht said.
The conflict is hitting the fuel market like nothing before, Vaht told ETV's "Aktuaalne kaamera" Friday night.
Key shipping routes in the region are blocked, refineries have been hit by military action, oil production has dropped and tankers are either idle or under attack as the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran continues.
"We're talking about a very serious crisis," he acknowledged.
Vaht explained that the impact on fuel prices will depend on how the situation unfolds, adding that measures taken so far to bring prices down have had little effect.
Even if the war ended today, he continued, the disruption to shipping and infrastructure means the market could take months to stabilize.
"Even if the tanks are full, that oil can't be exported, and untangling the resulting mess could take months," Vaht said. "Even three, four, maybe even six months. We've never seen a crisis this bad."
The Terminal executive also said the U.S.' 30-day sanctions exemption for Russian oil is unlikely to bring prices down, since some Russian oil has been circulating on the market all along anyway.
Asked when oil and fuel prices might start to fall, Vaht said it could be three to four months.
"This crisis is long-term," he emphasized again.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Aili Vahtla
