The price of fuel continues uninterrupted and marks a new annual high for the tenth consecutive week of increases. According to the latest European Union Petroleum Bulletin published this Thursday, anyone who goes to a gas station to fill up with gasoline will pay an average of 1.73 euros per liter this week, while anyone who decides to fill up the tank with Diesel to fill, 1.73 euros per liter pays liter. .63 euros per liter, one cent more than the previous week.
The fuel price therefore remains negative for consumers, which is mainly due to the increase in the price of the raw material oil. This week a barrel of Brent, the benchmark in Europe, exceeds 93 euros and is approaching the level of October 2022, when it touched the 100 euros per barrel mark. Production cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia, which just announced they will maintain their cuts until December, are driving up the price of a barrel of crude oil. In addition, there is an increase in the profit margin in the refineries. The sector, whose activities were paralyzed during the pandemic, is in a good phase thanks to the rapid recovery in consumption.
The return to work and classrooms will not be as favorable this year as it has been on other occasions. Gasoline has seen a nearly 9% increase since the start of summer. However, if we take the start of the war in Ukraine as a reference, the increase is almost 14%. At that time, the average price for a liter of diesel was 1.48 euros and for petrol around 1.6.
This week, however, filling a 55 liter tank – the average capacity of current petrol tanks – means an expense of 95.43 euros, 22 cents more than the previous week and 8.5 euros more than a year ago. The same intervention with a diesel vehicle costs 89.87 euros, 66 cents more than the last reference data and six euros less than a year ago.
The rise in oil prices is also slowing the decline in the consumer price index (CPI), which saw a slight recovery in August after standing at 2.6%, three tenths more than in July, the institute’s report said. National Statistics Office (INE) published this Tuesday. A liter of petrol is being paid at a price not seen since last November – since August, taking into account the 20 cent discount that applied until the end of the year – and diesel remains at a high not seen since February.
Spain, below the European average
Compared to its community partners, Spain remains below the Eurozone average. In the group of countries with a single currency, the average retail price this week is 1.906 per liter, while the price of diesel is 1.806.
The most expensive country to refuel is Denmark, where a liter of petrol is already over two euros. The Scandinavian state is known for high environmental taxes on transport. On the other hand are Malta and Poland, where citizens can fill up with petrol for 1.34 and 1.39 per liter respectively.
Even if the comparison takes into account all countries in the European Union, Spain remains below average. The average for the group of 27 is 1.83 euros per liter of gasoline, while for diesel it is around 1.75 euros.
