Fuel prices at pumps in Spain continue to drop

The latest data show that fuel prices in Spain have fallen at the pumps again.

According to the latest data from the European Union Oil Bulletin on Thursday, March 2, fuel prices in Spain have fallen in the last seven days. This marks the fourth consecutive drop in the price of diesel while petrol has gone down for the first time in two weeks.

On February 5, many experts in the fuel sector predicted that diesel prices would continue to rise unabated. That was the date on which the so-called ‘Russian veto’ came into force, the EU ban on imports of oil products from Russia. Since then, however, diesel prices have fallen steadily.

The average price of a litre of diesel has fallen to €1.589/litre, a drop of 1.36 per cent, its lowest level since the first week of March 2022. Petrol stands this week at €1.632/litre, a slight drop of 0.24 per cent compared to the previous seven days.

As a result, the average price of diesel in Spain remains below that of petrol for the third consecutive week. Since the beginning of the year, without last year’s 20 cents discount that had been applied by the Government, petrol has accumulated an increase of 3 per cent, compared to a 4.33 per cent drop in diesel.

This greater decrease in the price of diesel with respect to petrol is said to be due to the stockpiling of reserves of this fuel in the face of the fear of a shortage in Europe due to the veto on Russian diesel.

Government and industry sources assured a month ago that the supply of diesel was not in danger and was ‘assured’. They warned in February though that the price of diesel in Spain would depend on how supply and demand were balanced and on the evolution of the international price of this fuel.

Fuel prices depend on multiple factors, such as their specific price (independent of the oil price), the evolution of crude oil, taxes, the cost of raw materials and logistics, and gross margins. Moreover, changes in crude oil prices are not directly passed on to fuel prices, but rather with a time lag.

In addition, the main oil companies operating in Spain have opted to maintain their discounts of 10 cents – which may be higher depending on the degree of loyalty – to their customers during the first quarter of the year. With these price levels, both fuels remain far from the highs they reached last summer when in July petrol reached €2.141 and diesel €2.10.

This Thursday a barrel of Brent oil, a reference in Europe, was trading at around $84.70, while the American Texas was trading at around $78.20.

With these current levels, the price of 95 unleaded petrol in Spain remains below the average for the European Union, where it stands at €1.723/litre and an average price of €1.772/litre in the eurozone.

In the case of diesel, the price in Spain is also lower than the EU average, which is €1,693/litre, and €1,718/litre in the eurozone.

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