Motorists to get weekly pump price updates from April

The government will publish pump prices on a weekly basis from April to help motorists make better comparisons in their choice of petrol stations. The information provided will include discounts offered by oil companies as well as international prices for refined oil. Speaking on a radio programme on Saturday, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan also said oil supply to Hong Kong would remain stable – at a time when the US-Israeli attacks on Iran have led to supply and price shocks – as the mainland provided most of the fuel that the city needed. For example, he pointed out, supplies to the SAR were unaffected when the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 triggered an oil crisis internationally. However, Tse said prices charged for fuel in Hong Kong would be left up to the market to decide and that the announcements of price changes would boost transparency. "The public can accurately monitor changes in oil prices through such information and tell whether there have been any incidences where prices have risen quickly but come down slowly – or where prices have been raised by a greater quantum but lowered by a lesser one," he said. Writing on social media, the Environment and Ecology Bureau said major suppliers of automotive fuels were asked in a meeting this week to keep fuel supply stable. It cited suppliers as saying that price increases at local petrol stations had been relatively moderate compared to the sharp surge in international refined oil prices and price increases in other regions. It said the government would continue to closely monitor geopolitical developments and trends in international fuel prices to ensure the SAR's energy supply. Edited by Robert Kemp