In 20% of French stations, the price of diesel exceeds that of unleaded. In addition, he has just broken a new record, with more than 1.53 € per liter on average in France.
In recent days, there is new in the stations, with a change in the names of fuels. For example, diesel has become B7. But have the drivers really noticed this change? Not sure. When refuelling, their attention is focused on the totem displaying the prices .
We mention it regularly, they keep climbing. At the last score made by the Ministry of ecological transition, the litre of unleaded 95 was displayed very precisely € 1.5735 on average. For diesel, it was 1.5331 €, a new historical record in the country. In mid-October 2017, the rates were € 1,3587 and € 1,2393, respectively. Yes, you read correctly, the diesel took in one year 30 cents! A consequence of a revaluation of taxes on January 1, 2018 and, in recent days, a surge in oil prices.
The gap between unleaded and diesel has never been so low, with only four cents. It’s even less with the unleaded 95 E10, which was at 1.5474 €. That’s less than 1.5 cents difference. This being an average, there are therefore variable differences between departments and brands. And a new phenomenon has been noted for a few days: there are stations where diesel is (slightly) more expensive than unleaded!
The phenomenon does not concern only a few points of sale. Our colleagues at the Parisian unveil a tally that marks the spirits: the 9 902 stations listed by the government site, in just over 2000 the price of diesel has exceeded that of gasoline. If all the territory is concerned, these stations are much in Alsace and Ile-de-France. Thus, in the Val de Marne, 62% of the stations are in this case.
The government recently reiterated its goal of aligning prices at the pump by 2021, gradually putting the fiscal advantage of diesel. But this equilibrium of tariffs is already a reality in the country, putting more and more into question the utility of the purchase of a diesel, and weakening so much this industrial sector. And if prices remain very close, the gap should widen in favour of petrol from January! In the 2019 Finance Bill , the government confirmed that the lead-free will take 2.9 cents of taxes and the diesel 6.5 cents.
Could this crossing of the curves be the drop that makes the tank overflow and trigger a sling among the motorists? While drivers have realised that fuel prices have soared in recent months, we have not really felt a surge of protest, as was the case with the tolls a few years ago. But the end of diesel cheaper than gasoline can be the psychological trigger. Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of 40 million motorists, indicates that the form of the operation “Cost of pump”, which invites drivers to send their fuel bills to the Elysee, has already been downloaded more than 700 000 times .
