Fuel dispensers at a gas station.
The price of fuel is at record levels and 50 liters cost 12 euros more than at the end of March, which neutralizes the effect of the 20-cent discount
Filling the tank with gasoline at the end of March in Gipuzkoa, before the 20-cent reduction from the Government and the service stations came into force, cost 87.95 euros at the cheapest gas station in the territory. Instead, currently the bill amounts to at least 99.45 euros. Almost 12 euros of difference that, in practice, ‘eat’ the discount of 10 euros that the consumer felt in his pocket with the bonus from the Sánchez Executive.
According to the prices published this Monday in the geoportal of the Ministry of Industry, there is only one gas station in the whole of Gipuzkoa that offers a liter of gasoline 95 for less than two euros, an unprecedented event in our history. This is the Petroprix ‘low cost’ service station, located in Elgoibar. Its price is 1,989 euros, which means paying 99.45 euros to fill the tank of your vehicle (10 euros less with the discount). In the remaining 112 gas stations, the liter exceeds two euros and hits the ceiling in which Repsol has in Beasain, in the NI, with the liter at 2,259 euros (112.95 euros for 50 litres).
In the case of diesel, 50 liters cost 88.45 euros at the end of March at the service station with the most competitive prices in Gipuzkoa, while now they cost 92.95 euros. 4.5 euros more. So diesel has not risen as much as gasoline 95, despite the fact that half of the discount has already been ‘eaten’. According to today’s prices, 85 of the 113 gas stations in Gipuzkoa (three out of four) still offer a liter of diesel for less than two euros.
According to expert analysis, this current gap between the two fuels is due to the fact that we are in a time of increased demand for gasoline globally. It is a seasonal phenomenon, the same thing happens every year, and from October the differential between diesel and gasoline begins to align.
In this context, it should be remembered that the central government announced last Wednesday that it will extend the 20-cent discount from June 30 to September 30. The anti-crisis plan also contains three other measures such as the maintenance of the tax reduction in the electricity bill, the limitation of the increase in the price of rentals to 2%, or the increase in 15% of Income Minimum Vital.
The amount
112,95
euros cost 50 liters of gasoline 95 at the most expensive service station in Gipuzkoa, located in Beasain.
The economic vice president, Nadia Calviño, had warned that the Executive will put an end to the bonus of 20 cents per liter – the star measure of the plan – if the oil companies absorbed that aid and maintained prices. In fact, she hinted at the possibility of extending the decree but adjusting that subsidy to the most vulnerable groups.
Meanwhile, a barrel of Brent, a reference for Europe, is trading at more than 120 dollars and has not fallen below the 100 threshold since Easter. With the current context of uncertainty, the outlook is full of clouds. Never has paid so much for fuel in our country. What can the defenseless citizen do in the face of this reality? What can we do?