OMV boss Alfred Stern in the firing line: "We could sell petrol 80 cents cheaper"

Picture this: you're at the petrol station, the pump's dial is racing upwards as usual, and the man running the country's biggest oil company quite bluntly states: "Actually, we could sell fuel for 80 cents a litre less." That's precisely what OMV boss Alfred Stern recently let slip from company circles. Unsurprisingly, it's spread like wildfire across the country and really got people riled up.

In Vienna and all across eastern Austria, where OMV petrol stations are as ubiquitous as the Kahlenberg hill, it's the number one topic of conversation: is Stern delivering on what he's hinting at, or is it just hot air? And more importantly, why are we still paying so much at the pump? I've taken a close look at Alfred Stern's statements and tried to shed a bit of light on things. After all, this is about daily bread – or rather, about the daily drive.

The truth behind the 80 cents

When you hear "80 cents", you immediately think of cheaper fuel. Of course. But what exactly did Alfred Stern mean by it? At a private event with industry insiders, he broke down what a litre of petrol really costs and where the price drivers are hiding. It's a back-of-a-napkin calculation that's as startling as it is frustrating.

• The pure costs: Crude oil, refining, transport, a small profit for OMV – all of this accounts for only a fraction of the final price.
• The big chunk: Roughly half the price we pay is taxes and duties. That includes the mineral oil tax and then VAT on top of the whole amount – a tax on the tax, effectively.
• The geopolitical situation: Stern made it clear the current price isn't purely an OMV issue, but is down to war-mongering in the Middle East. The fear of an escalation in the Iran conflict is driving up oil prices on global markets. That's the part we're all indirectly paying for.

His message was clear: if the crude oil price were to fall to a normal level and the tax burden weren't so enormous, we really could pay around 80 cents less per litre. This isn't a utopia; it's simple maths that he's laid out on the table. Anyone wanting to know how to use OMV boss Alfred Stern's statements for their own argument needs to start right here: it's not about OMV-bashing, it's about systemic criticism.

The balancing act between honesty and reality

Of course, as OMV boss, Alfred Stern isn't the type to go gunning for his own industry. He's a bridge-builder, someone who masters the nuances. But this statement was a bombshell. Inadvertently, he's kicked off a review of Austria's entire energy and tax policy. Some are celebrating him as an honest broker, others say he's just deflecting attention from the fat profits oil companies have made in recent years. But it's not quite that simple.

I know the score from my old local pub in Ottakring: everyone's always griping about "the powers that be". Now, one of "the powers that be" has said: "Yes, it's actually insane." That gives the whole debate a new dimension. It's like a guide through the jungle of the fuel price discussion. He's handed us the compass and pointed the way: don't just look at us, look at the taxes and the global situation.

The truth, as so often, lies somewhere in the middle. OMV won't sell a litre for 80 cents less as long as the market and politics don't allow it. But Alfred Stern has given us the toolkit to do more than just curse the next time we're at the petrol station – to actually understand what's going on. And in these heated times, that might be the most valuable thing a CEO can do: call a spade a spade, even if it hurts.