Diesel prices to skyrocket

AS reported on Thursday, January 26, by a news outlet, the heads of various oil companies have warned that the price of diesel will skyrocket at the pumps on forecourts in Spain after February 5. Specifically, that is the date on which the EU embargo on buying Russian crude oil comes into force.

The sanctions are designed to starve Moscow from funding its invasion of Ukraine. However, according to sources in the petrol station sector consulted by the news outlet, Europe is still heavily dependent on Russia for its diesel supply.

Compared to when the government’s fuel discount was in place, the cost of petrol has already risen 18 per cent in the first weeks of 2023, and diesel by 15 per cent.

Data from Refinitiv, the global provider of data and infrastructure of the financial market showed that in November 2022, 44 per cent of the imports of this fuel came from Russia. The reason given for this dependence is the decoupling that exists between

€ supply and demand in Europe. Every day, the continent lacks 1.3 million barrels of diesel that must be bought outside the continent.

This deficit has been blamed by the sector to a large extent on the energy strategy of the European Union. Its strong commitment to disengage from fossil fuels as soon as possible is causing the sector’s investments in this business to have fallen in recent years.