Hong Kong’s government has been asked to negotiate with oil giants to stabilize fuel prices, as some residents have turned to buying illegal fuel amid high oil costs.
Lawmaker Holden Chow, deputy chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said on RTHK on Friday morning that rising oil prices due to the war in the Middle East had affected the livelihoods of Hong Kong residents, especially those who rely on driving for a living.
Chow said some drivers had bought illegal fuel and urged the government to try to solve the problem.
He also suggested inviting the oil giants to the legislature to explain how the companies set fuel prices.
Chow spoke a day after the Fire Services Department (FSD) said reporters that a man was intercepted on Wednesday night in To Kwa Wan for allegedly running an illegal petrol station.
The FSD said it received a report that a shop in To Kwa Wan was allegedly storing an excessive amount of dangerous goods. Upon inspection, police and FSD officers discovered 850 liters of petrol, along with fuel fittings such as fuel nozzles and hoses.
Speaking on the same RTHK program on Wednesday, Adrian Ho, a lawmaker from the New People’s Party (NPP), said it was “not unreasonable” for the government to intervene in the fuel market as fuel prices had become “unreasonable”.
In Hong Kong, the price of Esso standard petrol has risen 6.4 percent since February 28, when the war began, to HK$23.43 per litre. according to for the Consumer Council’s Oil Price Watch.
The price of Sinopec standard gasoline has risen by 11 percent since February 28, reaching HK$19.03 per liter.
Oil prices have risen worldwide since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East last month. International Energy Agency warned on Thursday that the war “is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”
