Prices at the pump are at their highest since the start of the year. While the French are suffering from inflation and back-to-school expenses, the prices of diesel and gasoline have been reaching new heights since July.
The most notable increase concerns diesel, with a liter exceeding 1.95 euros on September 19, three cents more than last week, and 25 cents since the beginning of July. The price of the SP95 is dangerously approaching the two euro mark, exceeding 1.97 euros this week, while the E10 is hovering around 1.96 cents.
The total increase over the year 2023 exceeds 8% for E10, 7% for SP95, 6.7% for SP-98 and 2.5% for diesel, which remains the most advantageous fuel.
If the price per liter of each fuel comes dangerously close to 2 euros, we can remember that they are capped at 1.99 euros until March 2023 in all TotalEnergies stations. Other stations reported sales at cost on an ad hoc basis. The government is ruling out for the moment any rebate at the pump, as it was able to do from September to December 2022 with discounts of 20 then 10 cents, which had cost the company some 550 million euros, but had caused a record influx into its stations. From December, selling at a loss will also be authorized by the government.
A reduction in production
How to explain this sudden surge? The main culprits are two countries from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and Saudi Arabia, which impact supply and therefore the world price by deciding to reduce their production.
In addition to the price of a barrel, which constitutes one of the two main factors influencing the price of a liter at the pump in Europe, the rate of the euro plays a key role. Since prices on world markets are expressed in dollars, variations of the euro against the American currency have a direct impact on prices. We thus mechanically pay more for crude oil when the euro loses its value, as Olivier Gantois, president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (Ufip), explains to Release.