This is something you have probably noticed, the prices of different fuels at gas stations. they don’t seem to go down. On the contrary, prices to increase from January 2024.

The evolution of oil prices

The price of a liter of fuel varies depending on from the price of a barrel. As you can imagine, the price of a barrel of oil fluctuates quite a bit between 2014 and 2024. Take, for example, a barrel Brent, the one that serves as a benchmark in Europe. According to data from the Ministry of Environmental Transition and INSEE, we see that the price of a barrel was agreed in January 2024 around 76 euros, the same price as in October 2014. But, as you noticed, gas station prices are not the same as in 2014.
The European Commission, which fixes the average fuel price, reports that in In 2014, the price of a liter of SP95 was 1,489 euros in September. Today, the price of a liter of SP95 is 1,869 euros. So, it is obvious that the price of a liter of fuel is not determined only by the price of a barrel. In a liter of fuel, you obviously have barrel, but also taxes and distribution costs. If many people think that the reason for the increase in fuel prices in France is related to taxes, know that this is not the main reason.

Evolution of distribution costs

If the price of a liter of fuel has varied well over the last 10 years, it is also because all the components that make up the final price of a liter of fuel also increased. According to calculations in Western France which took figures from Ufip and the Ministry of Environmental Transition between 2014 and 2024, the price of a liter SP95 increase by 25%. In 10 years taxes they have for fuel increased by 16%THE barrel increased it by 14% of distribution costthey increased by 206% !
On the SP95 liter, the latter passed from 8 to 24 cents. In simple terms, distribution costs are the relative costs of delivering fuel from production sites to various service stations.
Last month, Auto Plus showed you that the CLCV association pointed out the distributors’ margin. Remember, last summer the distributors made a commitment reduce the distribution margin. However, these efforts were not supported. The association then believed that distributors should respect their obligations and not practice excessive margins.

The price of a barrel decreases, while the price of fuel increases, this is the situation in France now.