Fuels: The fall in diesel prices continues, up to 20 cents less noted

A liter of diesel sold on average at 2.22 euros in France on Friday, compared to 2.38 euros in the middle of last week. This drop of 16 cents per liter emerges from an AFP analysis based on public data from 9,197 stations.

For its part, Bercy estimates the reduction at 19 cents on average in 7,600 of the 10,000 service stations.

In 4,000 of them, it exceeded 20 cents per liter. These figures come a few days after the start of the sale at cost price of part of the strategic diesel reserves.

Announced in October, the operation began on November 1 and should cover ten million barrels in three months. On Friday, 3.6 million barrels were put up for sale, according to Bercy, or a little more than a third of the planned volume. The government took this measure in response to the surge in energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East, which is worsening energy poverty in France.

Domestic fuel oil also affected In addition to road diesel sold at the pump, the operation concerns domestic fuel oil and non-road diesel used in particular in agriculture and public works. TotalEnergies, E. Leclerc, Coopérative U and Intermarché had announced price cuts from October 31, on the eve of the first state sales.

Smaller distributors, however, indicated that they were still waiting to benefit from the clearance. For the Minister of the Economy, Roland Lescure, this operation “is a real relief for the purchasing power of French motorists”. The minister spoke the day after a day of strong mobilization of private sector employees, civil servants and retirees, who included purchasing power among their demands.

Machine-translated from French