Bad news for those who own a diesel car, which is the most common among drivers in Spain. The price of a liter of this fuel has accumulated over five months of rise (an increase of 7% in this period) resulting in an average price of 1.456 euros per liter in the last week of November, according to the latest data from the EU Petrolero bulletin published in July this year. During the same period, the price of a liter of 95 octane gasoline rose by only 2.1%, reaching 1,489 euros. In this way, the price difference between a liter of gasoline and diesel, traditionally preferred in seconds, fell to 0.033 euros per liter, representing the lowest level since December 2023.
In the EU there are 11 countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Sweden) where the general selling price of diesel is higher than that of petrol, while the price of a liter of diesel in Spain is the cheapest of the four countries in the EU, surpassed only by Malta, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Is it possible that diesel is more expensive than petrol in Spain? Inés Cardenal, director of Asuntos Legales de la Industria del Industria del Combustible de España (AICE), which includes the main companies active in Spain (Repsol, Moeve, BP, Galp, Gunvor or Saras Energía), justifies the largest rise in diesel prices due to the increase in sanctions imposed on Russia, active since February 2022. Europe, and this has continued to stress the market for three years due to the gap between supply and demand. The expert points out that the global price of diesel may be more expensive than the price of gasoline, especially in the winter, but it has lower tax duties (fewer cents per liter) in Spain, which causes a decrease in the final price for the resource. In any case, oil is not responsible for the rise in fuel prices, as it has remained stable over the past few months at a maximum of $77 per barrel.
Cardinal warns that the directive being processed in the European Parliament seeks to close this tax loophole (Brussels sets the minimum and only countries decide to raise taxes), with the aim of ensuring that taxes that increase gasoline and diesel consumption remain equal in Spain. However, this parity will not be automatic, but will be implemented gradually. If it finally comes to a conclusion, diesel will consolidate itself as a more expensive fuel than petrol, something that has traditionally only happened in moments of market turmoil in Spain.
In the historical series of the EU Oil Bulletin, covering twenty years since 2005, only two previous episodes were recorded in which the price of diesel exceeded the price of gasoline. The first one was produced in 2008, as a result Diesel Car parking in Spain. The lower price per liter of diesel compared to petrol and the long-term cost savings due to lower fuel consumption have been the main incentives for millions of drivers to choose to ditch their petrol cars and opt for diesel. These car owners, who at the time represented 70% of the total, saw the largest rise in oil prices in the history of oil prices. In the eighteen months between 2007 and July 2008, the price of a barrel of Brent crude, a reference in Europe, rose from $55 to $146, and had a direct impact on the price of diesel. During this same period, the price of a liter of 95 octane gasoline rose by 33%, from 0.96 to 1.27 euros, while the price of diesel fuel rose by 47.5% to 1.39 euros.
The second episode in which diesel fuel was more expensive than gasoline was produced in 2022, coinciding with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. the first Sorpaso Of the prices produced in the last week of March of that year, the price of a liter of diesel reached 1.83 euros compared to 1.81 euros for gasoline. This first period only lasted six weeks, but the situation has been repeated since mid-August, meaning that buying a liter of diesel in Spain has been more expensive for 26 weeks. 2022 also delivered another blow: the price of a liter of diesel rose for the first time in history compared to the euro.