Skyrocketing petrol and diesel, the government intervenes but at the pump it only drops by 1 cent

Fuel prices go down but only by a very slight amount around 1 cent. For consumers it is the effect of the protests of the last few days which have pointed the finger at unjustified increases starting from 1 January, after the stop to the cut of excise duties. Consumer associations accuse energy companies and distributors of taking advantage of the increases due to the end of the price control, to add other hidden increases. With an ad hoc decree yesterday the government intervened and decided the obligation to display the price at the pump for distributors with penalties that could be imposed by the prefect. The new measures provide for another regulation to set a ceiling on increases in the cost of fuel on the motorways. Among other things, the managers will have to display signs indicating the national average price established by the Ministry of the Environment.

Consumer reaction

Codacons has benefited from the provisions on petrol launched yesterday by the Government following the complaints about prices advanced by the association in recent days. «After the Public Prosecutors, Antitrust and Guardia di Finanza, the Government has also accepted the alarm cry of the Codacons on the anomalies affecting fuels, with an ad hoc decree which however is not enough to adequately address the problem – says the president Carlo Rienzi – If in fact it is certainly positive to increase transparency on price lists in favor of consumers and to strengthen controls against speculation and anomalous trends, what is missing is an intervention on the fuel supply chain and on the formation of prices at the pump, where the many steps raise the costs for motorists, bringing Italy to the top in Europe for fuel costs». «It is also impossible not to intervene on the excessive taxation that affects petrol and diesel, another issue on which the Government must work by introducing automatic tax reduction mechanisms – continues Rienzi – In this direction Codacons will present a package of measures to the Minister of Enterprises on Friday Urso, aimed at improving interventions on the subject of fuels and adequately protecting consumers”.

The price trend

What’s happening to distributors? With international prices on petrol up slightly and on diesel at a standstill, Eni has returned to intervene on the national network, reducing the recommended prices of petrol, diesel and LPG by 1 cent. Q8 also moved with a 1 cent cut on petrol and diesel.

While waiting for these interventions to spill over into pump prices, the monitoring of the prices charged shows averages in slight adjustment. In detail, based on the elaboration by Quotidiano Energia of the data communicated by the operators to the Mimit Observatory updated at 8 am yesterday 10 January, the national average price of petrol in self-service mode is 1.822 euro/litre (1.820 the previous figure). , with the various brands ranging between 1.818 and 1.829 euros/litre (no logo 1.821). The average price of self-service diesel is fixed at 1.877 euro/litre, with the companies between 1.876 and 1.879 euro/litre (no logo 1.876).

As for the fuel served, the average price charged for petrol is 1.967 euro/litre (1.966 the previous value) with colored plants with prices between 1.921 and 2.033 euro/litre (no logo 1.875). The average of diesel served is 2.021 euro/litre (against 2.022), with the companies’ points of sale with average prices between 1.964 and 2.081 euro/litre (no logo 1.929).