2023-08-31 16:11:10
The return of the summer holidays is going to have an unforeseen event for the pockets of the thousands of drivers who these days return home after the holidays: the price of fuel. Filling the deposits is going to be the highest expense of the entire year after the prices of the service stations have reached their 2023 record right at the end of August after rising 12% since January.
It will be one of the most expensive traffic return operations in history, although for now it is no better than last year, when fuel prices were unimaginable and never seen at gas stations. Now, the average price of a liter of gasoline stands at 1.72 euros, which is 0.6% more than last week and the highest reference since November 2022, although the subsidy was in force then of 20 cents per liter introduced by the Government due to the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
Thus, it would be necessary to go back to the end of July of last year to find a higher level for the price of a liter of this fuel, taking into account the Executive bonus that was in force until the end of 2022.
For its part, the average price of diesel also chains seven consecutive weeks of rises, with an increase of 0.6% in the last week, to reach 1.612 euros per liter, a level that has not marked since mid-February, according to data from the Oil Bulletin of the European Union. In this case, the price of diesel is even lower than it reached last year at the end of August, taking into account the bonus of 20 cents, since, despite the fact that it marked 1.883 euros per liter, with the discount its price stood at 1,683 euros.
This Thursday begins the operation to return from the summer holidays, which will last until next Sunday, in which the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) expects a total of 6.82 million long-distance road trips to take place.
Since the beginning of July, when this new upward spiral in fuel prices began, the price of a liter of gasoline has accumulated an 8% increase in price, while diesel has increased in price by 12%.
With current prices, filling an average tank of 55 liters of gasoline currently amounts to about 94.6 euros, compared to 87.6 euros -about seven euros more- that it cost at this point last year, including the discount of 20 cents per liter that was in force a year ago. In the case of diesel, filling an average 55-liter tank currently costs about 88.66 euros, about 3.9 euros less than the 92.56 euros that it cost in the same period of 2022.
No general public discounts
Despite these references at service stations, the acting government is not considering applying new support measures, such as the 20-cent reduction in force for a good part of 2022 for all citizens regardless of their income or profession.
Government sources clarify that current fuel prices are reaching the “break-even point” estimated by Moncloa’s economic teams for this second part of the year, although they admit that they have accelerated more than what was calculated for the entire second half of the year. The Government has a barrel of Brent trading between 80 and 90 dollars until December. This Thursday, for example, it moves around 85 dollars.
In addition, they remember that the specific aid for carriers is still in force, and that it will continue until the end of the year. The measure is divided into two phases: the first contemplated the extension of the discount of 10 cents per liter of fuel consumed until September 30; and the second, a bonus of 5 euro cents between October 1 and December 31, 2023.
Producers want more
The escalation in the price of fuels is explained by the pressure of the producing countries not to leave a single dollar of income on account of the liquid gold that they generate daily. In fact, Russia has just supported Saudi Arabia in its intention not to increase the cut in crude oil production until October. And they have indicated that they are going to reduce exports in September with a total of 300,000 barrels per day. With less oil on the market, and demand that continues to grow, prices are stressed and tend to rise.
On the other hand, the United States also maintains its intention to have the tap partially closed to control prices that collapsed not only in the pandemic but especially in recent months due to gas exploitation in the country.
#Fuels #mark #highs #year #full #operation #return #vacation