While petrol stations are encountering supply difficulties, the issue of fuel prices is one of the keys to the problem. 40 million motorists appeal to the government in Midi Libre.
This is one of the keys to the supply difficulties encountered in 15% of petrol stations in France: in addition to the fear of shortages, once morest the backdrop of a strike in several refineries, “the tension is linked to the fact that motorists want to go at Total because it’s cheaper, underlines Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of 40 Million motorists. There is no shortage in stations at €2.20 per litre!”
A problem that should increase in the coming months.
The discounts will melt
The discount on the price of fuel, announced by the government, is modulated in two stages, according to a decree published on August 23 in the Official Journal: it is currently 30 euro cents per litre, and this, until October 31 , then it will return to 10 euro cents per liter from November 1 to December 31, 2022. In concrete terms, the discount is applied by wholesalers distributing fuel in service stations. The State then pays them a subsidy corresponding to the volumes delivered.
Problem: the rebate granted by TotalEnergies, under pressure from the government, will increase, at the same time, from 20 to 10 cents from November 1, to end, there too, in principle, unless further announcement, on December 31, 2022 .
“On the night of October 31 to November 1, there will therefore be a meteoric rise in fuel prices, underlines Pierre Chasseray. Motorists will fill up before and accentuate this shortage in the middle of the All Saints holidays. We must understand them, it’s a basic necessity and they need cheap fuel.”
Oil production drops
From next January 1, if new aid is not announced, motorists will therefore once more pay for fuel at the (very) high price.
Especially since the oil-producing countries of OPEC + decided, at the same time, on Wednesday to significantly reduce their production so that prices remain high, to the chagrin of Westerners.
Anticipating this announcement, prices have started to rise in recent days.
The appeal of 40 million motorists
The price of Brent Crude rose another dollar on Thursday to $94.37. Far, however, from the record of 132.60 € at the start of the war in Ukraine which had given a liter of fuel at more than 2 €, recalls La Dépêche.
Faced with this double phenomenon, 40 Million motorists calls on the State to “play its role, with at least the renewal of government aid, but above all with a reduction in VAT on fuels to 5.5%”, asks Pierre Chasseray.