Find out which is the cheapest gas station in your province and the evolution of fuel prices
The price of gasoline and diesel has registered this Sunday, April 3, a new historical maximum despite the reduction of 20 cents per liter. This weekend fuels have suffered a significant increase in their cost. The SP 95 liter is paid at 1,822 euros in Euskadi, almost twelve cents more than yesterday. Diesel A has also risen in the last 24 hours. Today it costs 1,861 euros on average, twenty-six more than yesterday. In the rest of Spain, the rise is also similar. SP95 gasoline stands at 1,798 euros on average and diesel at 1,827 euros.
Until June 30, at the prices set by the suppliers, 20 cents will have to be subtracted. Thus, the driver who goes to a gas station in the Basque Country today will pay an average of 1,622 euros per liter of gasoline and 1,661 euros for diesel.
Price evolution
To mitigate the economic consequences of the escalation in fuel prices, today the bonus of twenty cents per liter on all fuels and for all vehicles comes into force. This discount, which can mean a saving of ten euros when filling a 50-litre tank, will be valid until June 30. Of those twenty cents, fifteen will be borne by the State and the other five by the oil companies, which may offer discounts above this minimum through their own promotions and loyalty programs.
– Maximum price Euskadi
In any case, the bonus responds to the demands made by various sectors (in fact, it is one of those agreed last week with the National Committee for Road Transport to try to put an end to the strike that is causing supply problems) and will be a relief for the pockets of consumers, who see how the price of fuel has been on the rise since May of last year. Behind this increase in prices there are several factors that have worsened after the war in Ukraine. The first is the price (of oil on the one hand and of each of its derivatives on the other) in international markets. Here, in addition to speculation, we must take into account the relationship between supply and demand and the severe control that OPEC+ carries out on the former.
Cheapest petrol stations in Euskadi
*More cheap gas stations in Euskadi, here.
OPEC+ is the alliance created in 2016 by the thirteen states that make up the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries along with ten others with significant production volumes, including Russia. At the end of 2020, due to the stoppage caused by the pandemic (and the consequent collapse in consumption), these 23 countries agreed to control the fall in the price of a barrel of Brent, which had reached below twenty euros. And, obviously, controlling the price means reducing production, which is still below pandemic levels despite the fact that before the war many governments requested an increase to meet the needs of economic recovery.
The alliance agreed last year to increase pumping by 400,000 barrels each month to recover this September the 5.8 million barrels per day withdrawn from the market in 2020 and for the moment it has been reluctant to accelerate that schedule despite the fact that the sanctions prevent many countries buy Russian oil. Yesterday they agreed to raise that figure to 432,000 barrels as of May, because daily production will be 42.12 million barrels per day compared to the 41.69 forecast.
– Maximum price Spain:
The problem is that the price represents, according to the Spanish Association of Petroleum Product Operators (AOP), a third of the final price, so its fluctuations are transferred very quickly and in a very conspicuous way to the service stations, especially in those products that are most in demand and force gas stations to go to the market more frequently. That is to say, to buy paying what the market dictates the day that, yes or yes, it is time to refill the tanks. This is the reason why we have come to see diesel, which is consumed more than gasoline, more expensive than gasoline.
Cheapest gas stations by provinces
*More cheap gas stations in Spain, here.
In addition, without leaving the international market, there is another not insignificant factor to add; the behavior of currencies, which can make us pay more for oil without the need for its price to rise if, as has been happening since June, the euro devalues against the dollar, which is the currency in which crude oil is traded.
Then we must take into account the costs related to the transformation of crude oil into refined products and its subsequent marketing, which do not go down even if the raw material does, but they can become more expensive in an inflationary scenario. According to the Spanish Association of Operators of Petroleum Products (AOP), these margins represent 15% of the final price and, according to the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), in relation to Spain the level of competition “can be improved” .
Finally, there are taxes. In Spain, fuel taxes account for approximately half of what we pay when refueling. One of these taxes is VAT, in which variations in the cost of any of the components that make up the final price of fuel can be appreciated because it is calculated by applying a percentage to them. But the other, the Special Tax on Hydrocarbons (IEH), is fixed. It does not matter what happens with the price of oil or with that of refined products; always pay the same. Specifically, 0.47 euros for each liter of gasoline and 0.37 for diesel. In addition, another detail must be taken into account, VAT is applied after having added the IEH, so if it is fixed, part of the other is also fixed.