Fuel prices remain low throughout the holidays
Gasoline and diesel prices fall over 2% in one week in Spain
BarcelonaFuel prices continue to fall during the summer vacation months. The prices of gasoline and diesel in Spain have registered a new week of falls and the downward trend which started at the end of June continues, according to data published this Thursday in the weekly European Union Oil Bulletin.
On average, therefore, unleaded gasoline 95 has stood this week at €1.86 per litre in the State as a whole, which represents a 2.2% decrease compared to the previous week. Diesel, meanwhile, also fell, in this case by 2.06% to €1.8543 per litre. This is the seventh week in a row that gasoline prices have fallen, and the sixth for diesel.
These prices include the various taxes levied on fuel consumption, but do not take into account the 20 cents per litre discount approved by the Spanish government and in force since last April. If this aid is included, the price would fall even further, to €1.66 and €1.65 per litre for gasoline and diesel, respectively.
The price of oil and, by extension, of fuels soared as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February 24 and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia – one of the world's main producers – by Western countries, including the United States, which has banned the import of Russian crude. Prices remained on a generalized upward trend until the beginning of the summer, when they began a slight de-escalation which, for the time being, continues
Higher prices than a year ago
Despite the respite in recent weeks, consumers continue to pay much higher prices for gasoline and diesel than in the summer of 2021. Specifically, the increase compared to August last year is 31% for gasoline and 46% for diesel, two figures that drop to 17% and 30%, respectively, if the government subsidy is taken into account.
This week, then, filling a 55-litre tank costs about €90, €13 more than a year ago in the case of gasoline and €21.12 more in the case of diesel, including the 20 cents per litre subsidy.
Last summer fuel became notably more expensive compared to 2020, when the price of oil was at historically low levels due to the pandemic driving down demand. The restrictions on mobility imposed in many countries had a direct impact on tourism and on transport in general, including freight, but over the last two years both sectors have returned to normal on a global scale.
