Fuel prices: The government is counting on a “visible drop” from Sunday at the pump

Finally a little respite on fuel prices? The government expects “a visible drop” in prices at the pump from this Sunday, November 1, thanks to its destocking of strategic reserves, imposing “clear” display at fuel distributors and calling on the giant TotalEnergies to “set an example”. Fuel distributors must indicate “clearly, through a visible, readable and easily accessible display” on site, the amount of the reduction in the price of diesel linked to the destocking of strategic reserves decided in mid-October, according to a decree published Thursday in the Official Journal.

The official text further specifies that the amount of the price reduction, which will take place during the return weekend from the All Saints' Day holidays, must be "at least equal to the amount excluding taxes of the benefit passed on in relation to the sales volume to which it is attributed, increased by the taxes applicable to it". “One more constraint” for service stations “We do not yet know where we will put the display, perhaps at the checkout or at the machines,” Francis Pousse, of the Mobilians network, which represents most traditional service stations excluding supermarkets, responded to AFP on Thursday. Referring to “one more constraint” for certain stations, he hopes for “a little flexibility” in the implementation.

France announced on October 12 to make ten million barrels of diesel from its strategic stocks available to distributors, in proportion to their 2025 market share, and over a period of three months, in the hope of reducing the price of a liter at the pump by 12 to 18 cents. “We will have a visible drop [in prices] at the pump,” assured government spokesperson and Minister of Energy Maud Bregeon on Thursday on BFMTV/RMC. “Operators have the possibility, without finally waiting to have physically acquired the volume, to begin the pass-through in pump prices from November 1, which will ensure that from November 1 or 2, we have drops at stations that are clearly visible,” said the Ministry of the Economy and Finance during a press point on Thursday.

This exceptional measure was decided to deal with the surge in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East triggered by the United States and Israel at the end of February 2026. A measure which also concerns non-road diesel The government operation, which is due to last until the end of January, plans to sell these stocks purchased before the war to distributors at 0.28 euros per liter, significantly less than the current market price, which was around 1.10 in mid-October. euro per liter, according to Matignon. The measure announced by the government also concerns non-road diesel (GNR) used by farmers, fishermen or the construction industry, but not gasoline.

Machine-translated from French