MADRID – The price of fuel is falling for the second week in a row and the litre of diesel is cheaper than petrol for the first time in six months. A litre of 95 petrol is sold this week for €1.63 and a litre of diesel for €1.62.
That is respectively two cents and five cents cheaper than seven days ago. These figures are reflected in the most recent European Union Oil Bulletin data, including taxes. In both cases, prices are higher than a year ago. Then, petrol was sold for €1,575 per litre and diesel for €1,462.
Diesel is now less than petrol again for the first time since the week of August 18, 2022. Then a litre of diesel was sold for €1.60 and petrol for €1.59. However, that included the government’s 20 cent discount.
Although prices are far from the values reached last summer, above €2 in both cases, since the beginning of 2023, without applying the aforementioned discount, petrol has increased by 3.16% and diesel by 1.93%.
Prices for an average tank of fuel
With these values, it costs a driver on average almost €89.81 to fill up an average fuel tank of a car that runs on petrol. That is 20 cents cheaper than the week before. A full diesel tank costs €89.54 this week, €2.70 cheaper than seven days ago.
Although the 20 cent rebate is no longer widely practiced, the major oil companies operating in Spain have chosen to maintain their 10 cent rebates throughout the first quarter of this year. Plus, those discounts can be even higher if customers join one of the companies’ loyalty program.
Below the European average
Fuel prices in Spain are below those of the 27 European countries. That is €1.72 per litre. The average fuel prices for the eurozone, at €1.77 for petrol and €1.75 for diesel, is also higher than prices in Spain.
These prices are reached in a context of the war in Ukraine that started in late February 2022 and which has impacted oil values. A barrel of Brent, the European benchmark, was trading at $86 on Thursday, up 0.76%, while Texas was trading at $79, up 1.2%. However, it must be taken into account that the price of petrol and diesel varies depending on various factors, such as taxes, the specific price (independent of that of oil), the evolution of crude oil or the cost of raw materials. In addition, the evolution of the price of crude oil is not directly reflected in fuel prices, but with a certain lag.
In fact, Russia’s decisions regarding crude oil also affect the price. On February 10, Russia announced it would cut the country’s crude production by half a million barrels per day from March. That decision already had a revival effect on the Brent barrel, which rose in price by 3% per day.
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