With 0.90 euro excluding taxes per liter of unleaded 95, the price of petrol in France is the second highest of the countries in the euro zone. The euro zone’s annual inflation rate rose slightly again, to 7% in April, driven in particular by a rebound in fuel prices.
An exception which the French would have done well without. Since Monday, May 1, the average price of unleaded 95 in France has been 0.90 euros excluding tax, according to figures published each week by the European Commission. Either one of the highest rates in the euro zone. For comparison, it takes an average of 0.79 euro in Italy and 0.86 euro in Spain. How can these price differences be explained?
First, by the rise in the price of ethanol. This fuel of vegetable origin, added in the unleaded 95, has been more expensive since January, according to Ufip, a professional organization which brings together energy and oil companies, on BFMTV. “With the war in Ukraine and the tensions on the markets of agricultural raw materials, the prices of agricultural materials have increased considerably”, details the president of Ufip, Olivier Gantois. However, this substance is present at 10% in unleaded 95-E10, the fuel most consumed in France, when other European countries prefer unleaded 95-E5, with only 5% ethanol.
The impact of refinery blockages?
Still according to Ufip, this price difference can be explained by the ecological system of energy saving certificates (EEC), which saw “his goal to increase”, underlines Olivier Gantois. It’s about forcing “the fuel distributor to save energy for its customers”he explains, by participating for example “to the cost of insulating a house, changing heating equipment, investing in soft mobility”. The oil tanker representative estimates with the Figaro (article reserved for subscribers) that this device increases “a few cents” fuel prices.
Another track to explain this increase: the repercussions of the mobilizations against the pension reform in recent months and the blockages of refineries. “Traditionally, in France, we produce enough unleaded in our refineries. From the moment they no longer work, we have to look elsewhere, in this case from imports, which is always more expensive”explains Francis Pousse, representative of service stations and new energies of Mobilians, on France 2.
An assertion, however, nuanced by Olivier Gantois, president of Ufip, on TF1. If he accepts this explanation for the increase in fuel prices in March, he is more skeptical about those of May. “For a few weeks, the refineries have restarted, so I don’t think there is any additional cost linked to the strikeshe explains. In any case, I am not able to estimate it.”