Petrol prices still falling in Spain while diesel keeps increasing weekly

The price of petrol in Spain has been dropping each week while the cost of diesel keeps increasing.

According to data released by the EU Weekly Oil Bulletin, the price of petrol has fallen again in Spain this week. After increasing slightly last week, it has dropped this week by 0.83 per cent per litre. It currently stands at an average of €1.779 at the pumps across the country.

The news is not as good for drivers of diesel vehicles though, with the fuel increasing on a weekly basis. Diesel has been rising in price progressively, and currently stands at an average of € 1,921, after going up by 2.1 per cent.

This is the third consecutive week of diesel price increases after the fuel had shown signs of falling substantially earlier in the summer. At the end of June though it stood at €2,141/litre before starting to drop. The difference in price between petrol and diesel prices is now around 15 cents per litre, the biggest gap since the conflict started in Ukraine.

Diesel is now 52 per cent more expensive than this time last year when it has historically always been the cheapest fuel for motorists to use. Compared to EU averages, where diesel is €1,908/litre, Spain is more expensive. In the eurozone, it stands at €1,945/litre though.

When the government discount of 20 cents per litre is applied, the price of diesel is €1,721/litre, and petrol is €1,579/litre.

There is a tendency to believe that the fluctuation in the price of a barrel of Brent directly affects the price of fuel, but in reality, it depends on international prices. The price of crude oil could drop but if the market believes that it is going to rise, then fuel prices will go up. This is what is said to be happening.

“The diesel market is already anticipating an increase in demand in winter and that there may be a shortage of supply in the coming months to meet consumption”, said a source from the Spanish Association of Petroleum Product Operators (AOP), the employer that represents the main companies in the country.

Russia has traditionally been the main exporter of this type of fuel and the economic sanctions after the war in Ukraine are affecting its distribution, so Europeans must now turn to other markets. As diesel continues to be the dominant fuel among motorists in Spain, this higher expected demand in times of shortage of supply is triggering its price in the aforementioned markets.

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