Last hours for a heavily discounted full house. This Tuesday, the eve of the sharp drop in the State and TotalEnergies bonuses, many motorists are looking to refuel at a bargain price, with potentially between 10 and 15 euros more to pay this Wednesday for 50 liters of gasoline or diesel.
season fever
Which causes new queues in front of service stations. The Waze navigation application thus verified a 43% increase in requests for itineraries to service stations on November 13 and 14, compared to the two previous days. Result: almost one in three stations was in difficulty yesterday and this Tuesday at the national level and even more so in large urban areas.
“The situation was still disturbed with a large influx of motorists this weekend and at the beginning of the week: if there had not been a strike and fuel available in the depots, we could have overstocked in anticipation but it was not there. possible,” explains Francis Pousse, president of the service station and new energy branch of the Mobilians professional union.
With an increase in attendance, “between +10% and +40% compared to a normal weekend”, estimates Francis Pousse, and “80% of the usual average stock in the stations”, the difficulties regarding the availability of fuels. , especially in the Paris and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
A price that is already rising?
In this context, would some take the opportunity to raise prices a little earlier? Despite the fact that prices at pumps were still slightly below the average of last week, according to the statement from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the Carbu.com site, for its part, noted an increase in diesel and unleaded 95-E10 in the last days.
Some stations are already setting prices above 2 euros, even before the lowering of the bonus that will make them raise 20 cents, passing the state bonus from 30 to 10 cents this afternoon at midnight. At TotalEnergies, which added an additional 20 cent discount, cut in half tonight, prices will go up 30 cents.
“There are still supply tensions, as can be seen with the maintenance of this anomalous situation in which diesel is more expensive than gasoline. Given the difficulties in obtaining supplies, some operators may have decided to look for fuel at all costs, with an increase that is directly reflected in the pump,” says Francis Pousse.
Quick return to normal
Tanker trucks exceptionally authorized to circulate in recent weekends have been able to significantly contribute to this increase in fuel transport costs, with additional costs (staggered schedules, bonuses).
Rising prices are expected to reduce demand from Wednesday. On the supply side, with the return to normal gasoline production at refineries, stocks should return to their usual level at stations, enough to lead to “a quick exit from this situation,” predicts Francis Pousse.
A long-awaited “return to normality”: Emmanuel Macron had announced it in mid-October for the week of October 17. Given the supply difficulties at service stations, the Government had also extended the maximum discount by 15 days. It was originally scheduled to end on November 1.
Source: BFM TV
