Cheaper gas and diesel? ERSE points to price drop

O gasoline reference price calculated by the Energy Services Regulatory Authority this week dropped 4.7%, to 1,961 euros per litre, and that of simple diesel dropped 4.2%, to 2,193 euros, today estimated the regulator.

The projections are set out in the weekly report on the supervision of sales prices for simple petrol 95 and simple diesel, which presents the so-called “efficient price” of fuels for the week starting on the basis of the main costs associated with the availability of petrol and diesel to consumers.

As public sales prices are freely defined by each operator, the efficient price is not “a regulated price, a maximum price or a recommended price”, explains ERSE.

The value serves as an indicator for citizens to understand whether the prices charged by traders follow the evolution of reference costs.

For the week from 09 to 15 November, the efficient pre-tax price “is EUR 0,977 per litre for simple petrol 95 and EUR 1,340 per litre for simple diesel” and, after the inclusion of the Petroleum and Energy Tax (ISP), the rate of addition on CO2 and VAT emissions, “it is EUR 1,961 per litre in simple petrol 95 and EUR 2,193 per litre in simple diesel”.

In relation to the previous week, there was an efficient price reduction of 4.7% in petrol and 4.2% in diesel.

“ This development is mainly due to the variation in international petrol and diesel prices, which are the most directly related references to the cost of fuels sold at the gas stations,” explains ERSE.

During this period, “international quotations, plus their respective shipping freights, decreased by 12.7% in gasoline 95 simple and 8.2% in diesel simple,” he said.

To understand the evolution of fuel prices, “the most important reference is not the quotation of the barrel of crude oil, but the international quotations of gasoline and diesel already refined,” says ERSE.

Crude oil is “the raw material from which these products are produced, but its quotation does not directly or immediately determine the price of fuels sold to the consumer”, being “still considered maritime freights, logistics costs, the incorporation of biofuels, marketing and taxes”.

The comparison with market prices is made with the most recent information available, for the previous week, period during which discounted prices published by the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG), were “5.8 cents per litre below the efficient price in gasoline 95 single and 8.4 cents per litre in simple diesel, corresponding to deviations of -2.8% and -3.7%, respectively,” says ERSE.

With regard to portico prices, the average sales prices to the public announced at the gas stations, as reported at the Single Energy Balcony, were 0.3 cents per litre below the efficient price in petrol 95 single and 2.0 cents per litre below in simple diesel”, corresponding to deviations of -0.2% and -0.9%, respectively.

“ In the previous week, average portico prices were below the efficient price in both fuels, with lower expression deviations in plain 95 petrol and “prices with discounts remained below the efficient price in both fuels,” he says.

“ The figures presented correspond to national averages, which aggregate different segments of the market, namely: flag companies, which usually have higher portico prices, but also provide more significant discount policies; low cost operators; and hypermarkets, which generally present the most competitive offers,” says the regulator.