Fuels: why the price of gasoline has risen for several weeks

The world of fuels seems to have gone back several years: for more than two months, gasoline is much more expensive than diesel. According to the latest figures from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, the price of a liter of diesel continues to melt towards the threshold of 1.80 euros, which it now only exceeds very slightly, at 1.8014 euros. The price of the SP95-E10 rises more than 10 cents, to 1.9246 euros, and continues to climb towards the symbolic bar of 2 euros per liter after a weekly increase of 1.4 cents.

These opposite variations are manifested when the two fuels come from the refining of the same crude. In this sense, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea rose more than 7 dollars last week to reach a price of 84.6 dollars after the decision of eight OPEC member countries to significantly reduce their production levels until the end of the year . year. So how can these disparities be explained?

A drop in unleaded gasoline prices starting in May?

Unsurprisingly, the social context at refineries plays an important role in this rise in unleaded gasoline prices. By limiting the national production of gasoline, the strikes force France to buy it in the markets, according to the president of the section of service stations of the Mobiliians union Francis Pousse. “Traditionally we are self-sufficient in gasoline, that is to say that our refineries manage to produce enough for our national consumption, knowing that it represents 30% of all our fuel consumption, the remaining 70% of diesel,” he said. Le Parisien.

The recent suspension of the blockades at the seven conventional refineries in mainland France gives hope of “a return to calm in gasoline prices in May”, according to the newspaper, which however quotes a specialist in the oil and gas markets. fuels little optimism about the durability of this calm.

“With the arrival of summer and the driving season for Americans, very large consumers of unleaded gasoline, we could quickly find tensions in the markets, he explains, and therefore see gasoline prices start to rise again.