Motorists began climbing another slope in January, certainly the hardest in recent years, as the disappearance of the global discount of 20 cents a liter on fuel coincided with an increase in fuel prices. That increase, at the moment, is between three and five cents, though at some service stations, as ABC investigated, the hike is as high as 30 cents. Such is the case of the Alcorcón hypermarket gas station, where the price of a liter of 95-octane unleaded petrol rose from €1,429 last week to €1,709 yesterday. However, the most common even today are in increments of a few cents. At two Repsol service stations on the outskirts of Madrid, 95-octane petrol that costs €1,639 per liter as of December 31 costs €1,669. The diesel that sold for 1,729 euros yesterday was priced at 1,749 euros. Thus, filling a car’s tank with 50 liters is now, at least, 11 euros more expensive than last week. Fortunately, this difference could be less if the driver pays to refuel with one of the major oil companies’ loyalty cards, which maintain discounts of €10 per liter for at least the first quarter of this year. At this point, we must remember that government cuts of 20 cents per liter only apply from the first of this month to transportation professionals, farmers and fishermen. Between 6 and 12% more expensive in 2022 It should be noted that petrol became 5.74% more expensive in 2022 and diesel by another 12%. However, these two fuels are 32 and 54%, respectively, more expensive than they were just a year ago. Oil, for its part, is up about 9% in 2022 and closed the year very close to $86 per barrel of Brent crude. The rise in crude oil prices in recent days has put more pressure on fuel prices. We must remember that when the global discount of 20 cents per liter came into effect, the average price of petrol was 1818 euros and 1837 for diesel, compared to 1565 and 1643 euros respectively last week. In addition, the implementation of this bonus coincided with a significant rise in fuel prices, which reached 2.1 euros per liter in the last weeks of June. More information Repsol, Cepsa, Galp, Shell, Desa and BP are taking a step after the government’s 20-cent rebate expires: they announce new offers. Another reason for high fuel prices: the implementation of the EU’s fuel quality directive. This is a new regulatory framework “that will contribute to an increase in the cost of fuel from January 1. Under this rule, published in the same Bank of England that introduced the 20 cent discount, each liter of fuel will become about two cents more expensive per liter than petrol and diesel,” according to the union. Business Spanish at Service Stations (Ceees). “All this is because in Spain, unlike in other neighboring countries such as France, biofuels incur more demanding taxes than fossil fuels,” adds the federation of employers of the retail fuel distribution sector in Spain.
