The cost of gasoline has continued this week the downward path started after the tax reduction approved by the Government on March 20, although diesel has registered a 2% rebound compared to the levels of seven days ago.
In detail, the average price of a liter of diesel has placed itself at 1.813 euros, above the 1.777 euros to which it had fallen during Easter, according to data from the European Union's Oil Bulletin consulted by Europa Press.
For its part, the average price of a liter of gasoline has continued with the decreases started the previous week, driven by the tax reductions applied by the Executive, and has decreased by 0.25%, to 1.553 euros.
In the previous week, fuels abruptly put an end to the upward streak that had led them to string together around ten consecutive weeks of increases, in a context marked by the crisis in the Middle East which has made crude oil barrel more expensive. That escalation led diesel to its highest levels since mid-November 2022 and gasoline to highs since early October 2023.
Last March 20, the Government, in an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting, gave the green light to the reduction to 10% of the VAT applied to diesel, gasoline, and other hydrocarbons, in addition to lowering to the minimum allowed by the EU the special hydrocarbon tax and approving specific aid for transporters and the agricultural sector, with the aim of mitigating the price increase of this raw material in international markets after oil price hikes due to episodes such as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Prices still below before the tax cut
Despite the new increase that diesel has experienced this week, both fuels continue to register average prices per liter lower than they had before the measures came into force on March 22. Specifically, diesel is 3.71% cheaper than the 1.883 euros of that week, while gasoline costs 10.38% less than the 1.733 euros of then.
With current rates, filling a standard 55-liter diesel tank means an outlay of 99.71 euros, about 20.5 euros more than a year ago, when it was around 79.2 euros.
In the case of gasoline vehicles, filling an average 55-liter tank now has an approximate cost of 85.41 euros, which represents about 2.3 euros more than a year ago, when it slightly exceeded 85.1 euros.
Despite this, the two fuels remain far from the historical highs reached in the summer of 2022. In July of that year, gasoline reached 2.141 euros per liter and diesel to 2.1 euros.
The final price of fuels is conditioned by various elements, such as their own quotation (independent of that of crude oil), the evolution of oil, the tax burden, the cost of raw material and transport, as well as the gross margins of the chain.
Furthermore, the movements in crude oil prices are not immediately transferred to the amount that consumers pay at service stations, but rather they do so with a certain time lag.
Spain remains below the European average
With current levels, the price of 95 unleaded gasoline in Spain continues below the average of the European Union, located at 1.879 euros per liter, and also that of the eurozone, where the average price reaches 1.949 euros.
As for diesel, the price in Spain equally remains below the EU average, which stands at 2.114 euros, and that of the euro zone, where it marks 2.159 euros per liter.