Kingdom
Fuel: The Competition Council’s Opinion On The Pass-Through Of Price Increases
The Council conducted hearings with the main players in the diesel and gasoline distribution market in order to examine the consistency and the level of correlation between changes in international quotations over the period from March 1 to 16, 2026.
The Competition Council published, on Tuesday, a report on the evolution of diesel and gasoline prices on international markets and their impact on pump prices in the domestic market during the period from March 1 to 16, 2026.
“In an international context marked by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, energy markets are experiencing a rapid increase in crude oil and refined product prices, in an environment characterized by heightened volatility and uncertainties affecting supply conditions. As an economy that imports petroleum products, Morocco is particularly exposed to these developments, especially for diesel and gasoline, whose international fluctuations directly influence supply conditions and price formation at the national level,” the Council states in the report.
“Despite the sustained increase in international quotations for diesel and refined gasoline during the period from March 1 to 16, 2026, the transmission of these developments to pump prices in Morocco appears differentiated depending on the product,” the Council notes.
For diesel, the increase recorded in international quotations was not fully passed on to retail prices, with a significant difference amounting to -0.89 dirhams per liter, while for gasoline, the pass-through exceeded the increase recorded internationally (+0.17 dirhams per liter), the same source specifies.
Furthermore, the wholesale prices applied by operators to service station managers varied, with differences reaching nearly 0.20 dirhams per liter for diesel, or about 10% of the average increase observed, the report reveals, adding that despite these slight upstream discrepancies, local competitive conditions lead to price alignment behavior at the retail level.
Regarding the biweekly price adjustment schedule, the Competition Council has initiated discussions with sector stakeholders to examine and explore the possibility of evolving this market practice in order to improve its competitive functioning, while preserving its overall balance.
