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Published: 16 June 2015

Prices of oil and electricity went down in the first quarter

According to Statistics Finland’s data, consumer prices of liquid fuels fell clearly in the first quarter of the year, which was a consequence of the fallen world market price of crude oil. The price of electricity was also falling in the Nordic electricity exchange. This was visible in lower prices of electricity for enterprise and corporate customers. Changes in tax rates raised the price of coal but decreased the price of milled peat in heat production.

Fuel Prices in Heat Production

The plunge of the world market price of crude oil that started in summer 2014 appears to have halted at the turn of the year. The plunge has had an evident effect on the price of oil products imported to Finland as well. The consumer prices of liquid fuels have been clearly lower in the first quarter than one year earlier. The prices of motor gasoline and diesel oil dropped by 13 to 14 per cent. The price of light fuel oil went down by 15 per cent.

The price of hard coal used in heat production went up in the first quarter by nine per cent year-on-year, owning to tax increases. The fallen world market price of crude oil has also had an effect on the price of natural gas. Despite tax increases, the price of natural gas in heat production fell by two per cent. The tax on peat decreased at the turn of the year, which contributed to the drop of ten per cent in the price of milled peat. The price of forest chips, in turn, went up by two per cent. At the beginning of the year, the price of light fuel oil was, on average, two per cent higher than one year previously. The price of wood pellets used by consumers decreased by around four per cent.

Nordic water reserves were at average levels in the first quarter of the year. The system price of the Nordic electricity exchange derived from the sell and buy bids on the exchange was approximately seven per cent lower than one year earlier. Due to electricity transmission restrictions, the Finnish area price remained almost 14 per cent higher than the system price but was still, on average, eight per cent lower than last year. The prices of electricity for household customers remained on level with the year before, despite increases in electricity taxes. The prices for enterprise and corporate customers fell by around three to five per cent for the smallest consumers and by five to eight per cent for the biggest consumers.

Source: Statistics Finland, Energy prices

Inquiries: Ville Maljanen 029 551 2691, energia@stat.fi

Deputy director in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Energy taxes, precautionary stock fees and oil pollution fees (16.6.2015)
• Appendix table 2. Energy prices in heat production in March 2015 (16.6.2015)
• Appendix table 3. Prices of heating energy in March 2015 (16.6.2015)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Import prices of oil (16.6.2015)
• Appendix figure 2. Consumer prices of principal oil products (16.6.2015)
• Appendix figure 3. Fuel prices in heat production (16.6.2015)
• Appendix figure 4. Fuel prices in electricity production (16.6.2015)
• Appendix figure 5. Price of electricity by type of consumer, c/kWh (16.6.2015)
• Appendix figure 6. Average monthly spotprices at the Nord Pool Spot power exchange (16.6.2015)

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Updated 16.06.2015