Hong Kong authorities have received 221 complaints about illegal petrol stations in the first two months of the year, averaging about 111 per month – 42 per cent higher than the monthly average in 2025 – as drivers continue to grapple with rising fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war with Iran.
The Fire Services Department said on Friday that prosecutions in January and February had risen even more sharply, increasing 85 per cent over last year’s monthly average, with illegal operators deploying tactics such as modifying vehicles for use as mobile refuelling points.
“Back in the day, it could be very large scale like a petrol station, but now the scale is smaller and it is scattered across different places. It could be places like cars and containers,” divisional officer Ng Wing-chit told a radio programme, adding that such methods made detection and enforcement more difficult.
As the war stretched into a second week, oil prices surged above US$100 a barrel, with Iran effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply is transported.
The volatility in the oil market has led to a sharp rise in fuel costs in Hong Kong. According to an oil price tracker by the Consumer Council, the pump price of standard petrol stood at HK$31.09 (US$3.97) per litre across the city’s five petrol station operators on Friday.
Hong Kong’s fire authorities have continued to combat illicit fuelling amid rising petrol prices. In the latest case on Wednesday, the department arrested a man and seized 850 litres (224 gallons) of petrol in a raid on a shop in To Kwa Wan.
