Fuel costs:Petrol and other fuel costs are likely to come down this week as lower oil prices feed through into prices for consumers.
However, motorists and homeowners face a Government -imposed increase at the start of next month when a price hike legislated for in August will kick in.
Maxol has dropped its petrol prices at the pump by more than one cent a litre in response to falling world oil prices, and other companies are set to do the same.
However, following an order made by Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan in August, a Government charge designed to underpin security of oil stocks will more than double to 1 cent a litre.
The increase is discussed in a briefing document prepared by Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources officials for Mr Ryan.
Maxol Group chief executive Tom Noonan confirmed that his company would pass on the charge when it comes into effect.
A spokesman for Topaz, the biggest oil retailer in the State through its ownership of the Statoil and Shell chains, said that it would be passing on the charge in full to retail customers.
The existing charge, designed to pay for oil that the State must keep in reserve in case of sudden shortages, is 0.467 a-litre.
The increase will add more than €10 to the cost of an average load of home heating oil and over €2 to the price of filling a 40 litre petrol tank.
Under EU law, the Government is obliged to keep 90 days of oil in reserve.
A spokeswoman for the department said that the levy has not increased in 12 years.
She pointed out that the Republic's oil consumption has increased hugely since 1995, while its cost has also increased dramatically in that time.
The spokeswoman said that the cost of maintaining 90 days' reserves has increased as a result of both of these factors.
The reserves are managed by a State body called the National Oil Reserves Agency (Nora), which was previously part of the Irish National Petroleum Corporation.
Most of the oil is held by Irish and foreign oil companies under a contract with Nora, while about 10 per cent of it is held by State electricity supplier, the ESB.
Mr Noonan said yesterday that the levy was one of a number of charges that oil companies have to pay and ultimately pass on to their customers.
However, he acknowledged that the charge has not been increased since it was first introduced in 1995.
Oil is the Republic's biggest energy source and accounts for 57 per cent of the fuel used by the State's consumers and businesses.
Virtually all the State's oil needs are imported by sea, as the Republic has no viable natural reserves and no pipeline linking it to other markets.
While the price of the fuel has eased on world markets recently, it is expected to continue increasing over the long term.
According to some forecasts, crude oil will trade in the $85 to $100 a-barrel next year.
