On TF1 this Wednesday evening, the CEO of TotalEnergies announced that the price of a liter of gasoline and diesel would be capped at 1.99 euros this year in French stations. The measure comes into force on Saturday on the highways, and on March 1 in other stations in the country.
No more than 1.99 euros at the pump, promises Patrick Pouyanné. The CEO of TotalEnergies, under pressure from President Macron to make a “gesture” in this period of high inflation, announced this Wednesday evening on TF1 that the price of a liter of petrol and diesel would be capped this year in French service stations. . It concerns the few 3.400 stations-service the total energies.
Excellium diesel and unleaded 98 not affected
This measure – which excludes top-of-the-range Excellium diesel and unleaded 98 products – will come into force from Saturday on motorway service stations and from March 1 for the others, said Patrick Pouyanné on Twitter*. “This measure for all protects our customers once morest prices that are too high”*, underlined the CEO of TotalEnergies.
According to the numbers published by the Ministry of Energy Transition this Monday, the liter of diesel sold for an average of 1.8382 euros last week in France, once morest 1.907 euros for unleaded 95 and 1.8776 euros for SP95-E10. The European embargo on Russian diesel, in force since the beginning of February, might however make diesel more expensive in the future.
The group had announced at the beginning of the month a net profit of almost 20 billion euros in 2022, the largest ever recorded by the French oil group and one of the best results in the history of the CAC40*. “I hope that the dialogue can be finalized between the ministry and the companies concerned, as was done last year on fuels with rebates at the pump which had been made by companies like Total”*, declared the president Macron on Tuesday from the Rungis wholesale market.
From September to December 2022, TotalEnergies had granted discounts at the pump of 20 then 10 cents in its stations, for a total cost of 550 million euros.
A risk of congestion in Total stations?
Are Total stations at risk of being taken by storm, as during the handing over of 20 centimes at the pump last fall? “If fuel prices rise sharply, we will have congestion on the network” of the group’s stations, alert this Thursday morning on franceinfo Patrice Geoffron, director of the Center for Geopolitics of Energy and Raw Materials.
“If we look at the map of France, the TotalEnergies stations represent a third of the stations”explains Patrick Geoffron. “Let’s imagine that the prices go up around 2.40 or 2.50 euros per litre”, consumers will focus on Total stations and “we will end up with a destabilized oil and fuel supply chain”warns the specialist.
