Hungary has introduced a price cap for gasoline and diesel in response to the rising price of energy as a result of the Iranian oil blockade and the loss of oil flow from the damaged Russian Druzhba pipeline.
The Hungarian government said in a March 9 statement that it would set the price cap for gasoline at 595 forints ($1.80) per liter—about $6.80 per gallon—and for diesel 615 forints ($1.86) per liter, or $7.04 per gallon, and that retail prices cannot exceed these amounts.
“We will release state reserves and thus ensure supply,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, according to a translation of the statement.
Protected prices will extend to private individuals, farmers, transporters, and entrepreneurs, according to the statement. These rates will only be available to those with Hungarian license plates and Hungarian registration plates.
Fuel prices have risen sharply throughout Europe since the Iran conflict began.
“That is why we made the decision at today’s government meeting that we will protect Hungarian families, Hungarian entrepreneurs and Hungarian farmers,” the prime minister said.
Orban said that the price caps would come into effect at midnight on March 10.
The prime minister made the decision on the basis that prices were rising as a result of the Iran War and the “Ukrainian oil blockade,” according to the statement.
Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off from shipments of Russian oil since Jan. 27, when Ukraine said that pipeline equipment on the Druzhba line was damaged by a Russian strike in western Ukraine.
Budapest has accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up oil supplies—accusations that Kyiv denies, stating that it has been working to fix the damage as fast as it could.
Hungary and Slovakia maintain closer ties with Moscow than the rest of the bloc and have defended their continued purchase of Russian energy, saying alternatives are too expensive.
Strategic Reserves
The United States is also considering a coordinated sale of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) with releases from other countries.
“We are talking about coordinated releases from the SPR,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters gathered at a natural gas plant in Colorado on March 9.
The SPR, located on the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, holds 415 million barrels of oil—more than what is used across the world in four days.
The G7 issued a March 9 statement saying that it would release emergency oil stocks if “necessary” to bring down global prices.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and developments in the energy markets and will meet as needed to exchange information and to coordinate within the G7 and with international partners,” finance ministers from the G7 countries said in a statement.
“We stand ready to take necessary measures, including to support global supply of energy such as stockpile release.”
The G7 is a forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the United States.
Oil prices surged by about 25 percent on March 9, reaching their highest levels since mid-2022.
Brent crude futures climbed to a high of $119.50 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate to $119.48 per barrel.
The conflict has blocked the world’s most important oil artery—the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply—triggering force majeure across Gulf energy markets.
Force majeure is a legal term meaning an unexpected event beyond someone’s control, such as war, natural disaster, or government action, that prevents them from fulfilling a contract.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on March 8 that “short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”
Oil prices did fall on March 9 following Trump’s suggestion during an interview with CBS that the Iran war was nearing its end, with crude oil trading at $89.39 per barrel as of 9:35 p.m. EDT.
Prices on March 10 had dropped further, to $80.68 a barrel, as of 1:17 p.m. EDT, per Yahoo Finance.
Owen Evans and Reuters contributed to this report.
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