The subsidiaries of the large distribution groups in charge of buying oil to supply the French service stations of large surfaces do not generate “super profits”, assured their leaders in a voice heard this Tuesday in the National Assembly.
“I will make between 0.35% and 1% margin during the year between mid-2021 and mid-2022,” Philippe Michaud, co-president of ACDLec, backed by Leclerc centers, explained to deputies. “It barely covers my station’s staffing costs and its statutory maintenance cost,” he said.
“It is not at the distribution level that we make a profit, added Thierry Forien, affiliated with the same network. We are not producers or refiners. We do not speculate and we have a seven-day “stock-tool”. It’s extremely limited.”
Price competitiveness of Total impossible to compete
The officials questioned dodged the parliamentarians’ questions and referred to the sector’s upstream, in particular TotalEnergies, on the issue of “super-profits”. The gas and oil giant, questioned for its super-profits, applies from September 1 to the end of October a bonus of 20 cents per liter on fuel at its own service stations.
“We found a difference of 8-9 cents between the prices charged by Total and those of others,” lamented Alexandre Truchetto, linked to Intermarché. “Supermarkets have not been able to match these prices. There is an impact on the pump that cannot be filled”.
Work on the “flash mission” returned in early October.
Thierry Forien also indicated that these annual contracts between suppliers and distributors were usually negotiated in the autumn and would soon be reviewed.
These interventions were made within the framework of the “flash mission” announced in July “on the oil and gas companies and those in the maritime transport sector that have generated exceptional profits during the crisis” with the aim of examining the draft budget to Parliament in the autumn. Your work should be finished in early October.
Source: BFM TV
