The oil companies: no extra margins, the increase coincides with the return of excise duties

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“Incorrect and unfounded.” The Italian oil companies return to the sender, in this specific case to the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the accusations of possible speculative maneuvers on the price of fuel. The increases in the new year, it is their position, were determined by the cancellation of the cut in excise duties by the Government: proof of this is that the economic effects of the measure on the prices of petrol and diesel, equal to 0.183 euros per litre, are more or less equal to the increases at the pump.

A dry stance, taken by Unione energie per la mobility (today Unem, yesterday Unione petrolifera), which brings together and represents the main companies in Italy in the sectors of refining, logistics and distribution of petroleum products. «The accusation of speculation on fuel prices is not only incorrect, but I would say that it is unfounded», declares Claudio Spinaci, president of Unem.

The proof, in his opinion, comes from the numbers. “Between the last week of December and the first days of January, the industrial price of fuels, given the substantial stability of the international markets, did not change and the difference we see today is entirely due to the increase in excise duties”, Spinaci points out. According to yesterday’s usual survey by Staffetta Quotidiana, in fact, as far as self-service is concerned, the average price of petrol and diesel stood at 1.81 and 1.872 euros per litre, respectively, against the 1.626 and 1.692 euros of 30 December 2022, that is, before the stop to cut excise duties.

The latter is worth 0.183 euros per liter (including VAT which obviously affects a higher taxable income) and the increases in petrol and diesel at the pump are aligned with it, equal to 0.184 and 0.18 euros. Same music for the “served”, where yesterday petrol and diesel cost on average respectively 1.949 and 2.011 euros per liter against 1.774 and 1.839 euros at the end of 2022: in this case, it should be noted, the price difference is 0.172 and 0.175 euro: less than the effect linked to excise duties.

All this in a global context which – sector analysts explain – is experiencing a moment of relative calm, with the great rush to purchase diesel which has brought inventories back to acceptable levels and with Brent prices below 80 dollars. Proof of this is that even at an international level, between 30 December and 5 January, petrol and diesel had imperceptible variations, i.e. +0.014 euro per liter and -0.005 euro per litre.