The refineries of MOL Zrt, Hungary’s largest oil and gas company, are continuing to work at full capacity, with the firm not experiencing a crude shortage and continuing to track global market trends in order to ensure uninterrupted supplies, its President-CEO Zsolt Hernádi told the MTI news outlet on Wednesday.
The company is still producing normal levels of fuel and is “still able to supply the country in the current situation,” despite the increase in consumer demand, Hernádi stressed.
The demand for fuel in Hungary has reached unusually high levels due the fuel price cap in effect in the country.
“It must be emphasized that the load on the filling stations must be restored to a level close to the previous level,” Hernádi said.
“This is the most important step, as the demand for fuels has increased significantly: on the one hand due to the transit traffic passing through Hungary, and on the other hand due to the increased gas tourism. In the surrounding countries, the price of fuel per liter is 100 to 150 forints higher, so obviously every carrier and transiting traveler who can do it wants to refuel in Hungary,” he added.
The MOL CEO also highlighted that the world market had undergone major changes in recent weeks, with oil prices rising to unprecedented levels, and many European countries suspending their use of Russian oil following the country’s invasion of Ukraine — these challenges will make it increasingly more difficult for competitors to supply their refineries.
“It will take time for them to make up for the lost Russian oil from other sources. In the case of MOL, there is no such problem: it still produces fuel at full capacity, in the usual quantities, and will meet consumer needs,” Hernádi added.
