The sale of fuel at cost price “is not something that will change the price”, estimates the former president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries

“It’s not something that will change the price of fuel”, explained Sunday September 24 on franceinfo Jean-Louis Schilansky, oil expert, former president of UFIP (L’Union Française des Industries Pétrolières). On Sunday September 24 at 8 p.m. on France 2 and TF1, Emmanuel Macron asked distributors to sell fuel “at cost”.

>> Selling fuel at a loss: distributors firmly opposed

“This has already been mentioned and tried. The distributors’ profit is 1 to 2 cents per liter. This means that if they abandon their distribution margin prices will drop by 1 to 2 cents per liter.” Selling at cost “cannot be a lasting measure. We cannot ask independent operators and distributors to sell without margin over a very long period of time, that is not viable.”

Emmanuel Macron wants to ask refiners to be transparent. “Refining margins depend on each refinery. It is completely transparent, the government knows perfectly well what the margins of each operator are. In France, there are seven refineries and they know the accounts”explained Jean-Louis Schilansky.

“It’s still that but it won’t solve the problem.”

The measures announced by the Head of State will depend on the price of crude oil. “If it does not rise or if it falls, these measures will be supporting measures and motorists will be at today’s prices at 1.95 euros per liter. But if oil comes to rise these measures announced will not be enough.”

Emmanuel Macron announced new aid to compensate for the high price of fuel, “limited to workers” and to the most modest, and which could reach “100 euros per car per year”. Jean-Louis Schilansky believes that if “We relate this to a motorist who fills up a tank per week, this is equivalent to a discount of 3 to 4 cents per liter. It’s still that but it won’t solve the problem.”