Gasoline and diesel prices continue to rise due to the sharp rise in the prices of petroleum products in the Mediterranean, where the green color in the autonomous mode exceeds 1.90 euros. Based on the data sent by operators to the Price Observatory of the Ministry of Economic Development, updated as of May 31, the national average price of gasoline in autonomous mode increased to 1.914 euros / liter (previous value 1.902). Autonomous diesel amounted to 1,831 euros / liter (from 1,821). As for serviced gasoline, the average price rises to 2.049 (from 2.037), while diesel used increases to 1.973. Eni has increased the recommended prices for petrol and diesel by two cents per liter. Same height for Ip and Q8. For Tamil +4 cents / liter on green and +3 on diesel.
Reasons for increases
The main reason for the price hike at service stations is the high price of crude oil. After the rollercoaster of Tuesday, May 31, which opened higher and then closed lower, oil resumed action, with WTI and Brent up 1.5% ahead of the OPEC+ meeting, respectively at $116.3 and $117.3 a barrel. News of the European Union’s embargo on Russian oil and the gradual lifting of restrictions imposed to combat the Covid-19 virus in China also contributed to price volatility.
Not enough tax deductions
Government intervention in excise duties, which lowered the tax rate by 30.5 cents, was extended until July 8, 2022. However, prices continued to rise. For this, it may be necessary to extend the measure further. Speaking to Matina 24 on Rainews 24, Undersecretary for the Economy, Maria Cecilia Guerra, said it was “highly likely” that the government would intervene again. Putting state coffers, but we use it to reduce excise duties and keep prices calm,” Guerra explained, noting that for energy “the government has already made 30 billion worth of interventions.”
A crisis “much bigger” than the crisis of the seventies
The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, has warned that Europe will face a summer season in which it will have problems with the supply of all types of fuel, due to the current environment. When the summer season begins in Europe and the United States, the demand for fuel will increase. And then there can be jams, for example with diesel, gasoline or paraffin, especially in Europe,” Birol said in an interview with Der Spiegel. Birol explained that European countries are particularly vulnerable to oil supply problems because they depend not only on crude oil, but also on imports of derivatives and refined products. “Some countries, such as China, are imposing their first export bans to protect consumers,” he added. According to the director of the International Energy Agency, there could be a crisis “much larger” on the horizon than the crude oil crisis of the 1970s, which occurred after the decision of OPEC to ban oil exports to some countries in the wake of the Yom Kippur War. Unlike what happened fifty years ago, which was just an oil crisis, we are now facing a common crisis in oil, natural gas and electricity.
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