Low-cost gas stations reduce the impact of rising fuel prices

BarcelonaLow-cost gas stations, or those found in some supermarket chains, have helped to lower the impact of rising fuel costs on consumers' pockets, according to a study by the Catalan Competition Authority (ACCO) on fuel price increases, presented this Thursday. The authority also notes that between 25% and 30% of the Spanish government's aid for diesel has not served to lower prices, but rather to increase corporate margins, although the subsidy for gasoline has indeed reached practically 100% of the final consumer.

In fact, the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), which has the obligation to supervise gas station margins, confirms an increase in margins this year. The latest report, which was published this week and refers to July, indicates that all gas station networks reduced their gross margin compared to June. But, despite the monthly decline in July, the average accumulated gross margin for the period from January to July 2026 is above the 2025 average for all analyzed networks and brands and for both fuels.

Furthermore, the CNMC confirms that in July 2026, the highest monthly average values of the gross margin indicator in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands were recorded in the distribution networks of Moeve, Repsol, and BP for both petrol and diesel. The lowest values corresponded to Moeve-Ballenoil service stations, followed by Tamoil facilities and independent ones. Among the relevant independent brands, BonÀrea presented the lowest gross margins.

For its part, the ACCO investigation confirms that low-cost petrol stations, supermarkets, and independent pumps have increased prices more, because they started from lower levels relative to the average. In contrast, large distributors have increased prices less, although they continue to set the highest levels.

Local competition between petrol stations, which the study analyzes by taking the interaction of different competitors within a one-mile radius, causes companies to tend to offer cheaper fuels. A petrol station with ten competitors within a radius of approximately 1.6 kilometers would have a price about 2% lower on average than that of a station without competitors. UAB professor and co-author of the report Jordi Perdiguero has stated that, although retail petrol station market prices are public, in the wholesale market there is a lack of transparency to know how the different economic agents are acting, reports the ACN.

Behind the more pronounced rise in prices at low-cost petrol stations compared to large chains, Perdiguero points out that there may be two phenomena. The first, that low cost stations have passed on price increases more because they started from a scenario of low margins, while large chains have been able to contain prices by internally assuming part of the costs. The second, that large distributors—which also supply small petrol stations—have raised wholesale market costs for their clients, which impacts independent petrol stations or small chains more. However, as Perdiguero reiterates, there is a lack of information to know how the wholesale market, controlled by a small group of large distributors, is behaving.

The ACCO, based on the study's results, proposes facilitating the entry of new operators into the market, reducing administrative barriers, and avoiding excessive concentrations of specific gas stations in local markets. The authority also calls for strengthening the supervision of the wholesale market, in order to know how large distributors are acting, and recommends prioritizing more targeted aid, such as direct transfers to the most vulnerable families instead of providing generalized fuel subsidies.

Lower fuel prices

On the other hand, gasoline and diesel prices have chained their second consecutive drop this week, after becoming up to more than 3% cheaper, and have consolidated the downward trend that they began the previous week, in the wake of the government's fiscal effect that came into force on October 1st.

Specifically, the average price of a litre of gasoline has fallen this week to 1.789 euros, after becoming 3.24% cheaper compared to last week. For its part, the average price of a litre of diesel, which already had a reduction of 20 cents per litre since the beginning of September, has also fallen again this week, with a decrease of 1.46% compared to the previous week, and stands at 1.889 euros, according to data from the European Union Oil Bulletin. Thus, since the beginning of October, the price of gasoline has become almost 7.8% cheaper, while diesel has accumulated a decrease of 4.5%.