2023-07-01 07:23:22
Las low cost gas stations they put pressure on the big oil companies in the middle of summer. The ‘low cost’ networks take advantage of the commercial shock in the sector due to the partial withdrawal of special discounts on fuel to chest out its ability to sell cheaper fuel to drivers than traditional companies after several consecutive weeks of higher fuel prices in the Spanish market.
At the gates of the first major ‘exit operation’ this summer, with millions of car journeys planned for the coming days, independent gas stations highlight a historic gap between their prices and those of the big oil companies, especially for diesel.
As highlighted by the National Association of Automatic Service Stations (Aesae), the employers of the ‘low cost’, the difference in the national average of the price of diesel -the fuel with the highest consumption in the Spanish market- between traditional and independent gas stations has climbed to a record of 18 euro cents per liter . In the case of gasoline, the differential stands at 14 cents per liter on average between the two types of gas station, slightly below the levels at Easter.
diesel vs. gasoline
The association of low-cost networks, which integrates companies such as Ballenoil, Petroprix or BonÁrea, stresses that the big oil companies are taking advantage of the sensation of a limited supply of diesel due to the veto imposed on imports from Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine and OPEC’s announcements to cut oil production to maintain or raise diesel prices.
“The offer is not as limited as one is led to believe, however this perception favors that the traditional ones are increasing their differential with automatic gas stations, which maintain tighter margins and are their competition in this market,” he explains. Manuel Jiménez Perona, president of Aesae.
According to the association of independent gas stations, “consumers who demand gasoline are less sensitive to price, and for this reason the fluctuations are smaller, maintaining the differentials during the year, while those who refuel with diesel are,” explains its president. “Proof of this is that the fuel most sold by automatic gas stations is diesel.”
The big oil companies have caused a shock in the sector in recent months with their new business strategies. The companies took advantage of Holy Week – another holiday period with a special intensity of private car transfers – to withdraw the fuel discounts of 10 cents per liter that they had maintained since the beginning of the year and announce minor reductions. Repsol, Cepsa, BP or Shell reduced the general fuel discounts in full holidays in April.
Difference between regions
The data of the Hydrocarbon Geoportal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition – a digital platform with the prices of all Spanish service stations – point out that
Cantabria is the region that presents differential with 26 cents per liter of diesel. They are followed by Navarra (22 cents), the Valencian Community (20 cents), Andalusia, Madrid and Asturias (19 cents) and La Rioja and Catalonia (18 cents). The Balearic Islands is the autonomous community with the least difference with 13 cents in diesel, followed by Aragon, the Basque Country (14 cents), Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha (15 cents), Murcia (16 cents) and Castilla y León (17 cents). .
In the case of the Gasoline, The Geoportal confirms that Cantabria is also the community with the highest differential, 21 cents per liter, followed by Catalonia (20 cents), the Valencian Community (19 cents) and the Community of Madrid and Navarra (15 cents). At the other extreme is Extremadura, the region with the least difference, with 10 cents per liter of gasoline, followed by Murcia, Castilla La Mancha (11 cents), the Balearic Islands, Galicia, La Rioja and Castilla y León (12 cents).
Cheaper than a year ago
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Fuels accumulate five weeks of rises in the Spanish market, but filling the tank in the first operation out this summer will be clearly cheaper for drivers than a year ago. According to the EU Oil Bulletin, the average price of diesel rose 0.98% this week compared to seven days ago, to stand at 1.441 euros per liter; while the average price of a liter of gasoline became more expensive in a week by 0.062%, to climb to 1.598 euros per liter.
With these prices, the filling of an average tank of 55 liters of diesel amounts to about 79.25 euros for this Exit Operation, compared to the 104.5 euros -about 25 euros more- that it amounted to last year. In the case of gasoline, filling an average 55-liter tank currently costs about 87.89 euros, about 18 euros less than at the beginning of the summer of 2022.
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