Find out which is the cheapest gas station in your province and the evolution of fuel prices
The arrival of the weekend once again gives a small boost to fuel prices in Spain and Euskadi. We are talking this time about small oscillations of tenths but that are added to the increases that consumers’ pockets already support. At the time that the Government and the transport employers reached an agreement to lower the cost of a liter of diesel in the professional sector, Basque gas stations were close to the historical maximum of the beginning of March and in some cases exceeded it. Thus, today, March 26, the average price of SP 95 gasoline is paid at 18.63 euros per liter and diesel at 1.892. In Spain, the situation is similar. Gasoline costs an average of 1.93 euros and diesel 1.83.
Price evolution
Gasoline and diesel prices broke their downward trend after the weekend. Since fifteen days ago they reached two euros per liter, fuels began a small decline until recently. This weekend, diesel rose again and this Wednesday it was gasoline that broke the downward trend.
– Maximum price Euskadi
The rise in prices is revived as a result of the supply problems suffered by the stations due to the transport strike. Precisely diesel has increased its price by 53% compared to 2021. This Friday, at dawn, the Government and carriers have reached an agreement in order to reverse the “disproportionate” rise in fuel prices. The Executive has announced a package with thirty measures that represents an economic “effort” of more than 1,000 million euros, among which are a discount of 20 cents per liter in fuel for the sector that includes diesel, gasoline, gas and adBlue, of which the State will contribute 15 cents and the oil companies a minimum of 5 cents per liter.
Cheapest petrol stations in Euskadi
*More cheap gas stations in Euskadi, here.
However, in the meantime, the suppliers have put their batteries and launch offers to attract new and old customers who have left. Repsol offers a 10-cent discount if the payment is made through the Waylet application. A similar advantage is gained by loyal customers at the Costco supermarket in Sestao.
– Maximum price Spain:
The paralysis of the country as a result of the transport strike is no longer a remote possibility, but quite real and even close. The president of the Merchandise area of the National Road Transport Committee (CNTC), Carmelo González, has already recognized the risk that Spain will stop this week: “I don’t want to say it, but unfortunately it does.”
The problem is that the price of fuel represents a third of the final price, so these fluctuations are transferred very quickly and in a very visible way to service stations, especially in those products that are most in demand. This is the reason why diesel, which is consumed more than gasoline, can become more expensive. There may also be situations in which we find 98 octane gasoline cheaper than 95 and there are ‘low cost’ service stations with higher prices than other oil companies.
Cheapest gas stations by provinces
*More cheap gas stations in Spain, here.
Prices were already on an upward path since May 2021, but Russia’s declared war on Ukraine has shot them up to unprecedented heights. Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer and second largest exporter. Its supply is key to Europe, to which it supplies 27% of crude oil. Tensions have been intensified by the United States’ proposal to dispense with Russian materials, something that is opposed in European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In the EU there is resistance to taking such a radical measure given the dependence on the neighboring country, when OPEC has not committed to increasing its supply beyond what was already planned.
But the supply and demand on which the price depends were already altered long before the tensions on the Ukrainian border began. You have to go back to the end of 2020, when the development of vaccines began to revive the world economy. Why? Well, because in the face of the stoppage caused by covid and the consequent collapse in consumption, the 23 members of OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plus producers like Russia) agreed to control the collapse in the price of a barrel of Brent, which had reached be under twenty euros. And controlling the price means reducing production. Since last summer they have begun to increase it again, but (and despite the political pressures that question the rate of recovery) it does not seem that at the moment they are considering placing it at pre-pandemic levels. In fact, they estimate that they will recover 5.8 million barrels per day, almost 60% of the cut volume, by September.
However, the lower production does not explain by itself the increase in prices. In fact, according to the Spanish Association of Petroleum Product Operators (AOP), it only accounts for 33% of the final price we pay and does not clarify, for example, why today filling the tank costs the same as in 2014, when the price of the barrel of Brent was around 108 euros. That is where the gross distribution margin comes in on the one hand and taxes on the other.
The gross distribution margin includes, in addition to the business profit, all the costs inherent to the storage and transport of fuel to the service station, as well as regulatory obligations. Among these, one of the most significant is the contribution that oil product operators must make since 2014 to the National Fund for Energy Efficiency (FNEE), a contribution that affects the consumer. According to the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), this margin is also now in Spain at historical maximums: in November 2021 it reached 27.7 cents per liter of gasoline 95 compared to 17 in 2014. The AOP calculates which represents 17% of the final price.
Finally, you have to take taxes into consideration. Fuels are one of the most intervened and taxed products in Spain, where the tax burden accounts for approximately half of its final price; 32% for Special Tax on Hydrocarbons and 18% for VAT (21% of the general rate is applied), according to the Spanish Association of Petroleum Product Operators. In addition, by allowing the collection of approximately 21,500 million euros per year, it is a way of encouraging the use of less polluting energies than those derived from oil. In other words, lowering taxes on gasoline goes against the commitment to sustainability embodied in the document ‘Spain 2050. Foundations and proposals for a long-term national strategy’ in which there is even talk of raising tax rates on consumption both gasoline and diesel. Therefore, it does not seem very feasible that a price reduction will be sought through tax adjustments, as has been attempted with electricity.
What can we do then? Little thing. Just review the advice of experts such as the Royal Automobile Club of Spain (Race) on how to save fuel, give ‘low cost’ gas stations a chance and take into consideration the comparisons of the cheapest service stations made by the National Commission of Markets and Competition in its ‘ Informative Bulletin or organizations such as the OCU.