Early August surprise. At petrol and diesel stations, they have been falling for weeks, despite the holiday and departure period. We are used to fuel price spikes before long weekends and red and black-stamped exoduses (like this first weekend of the month). Millions of Italians leaving and yet… And yet, petrol at 1.844 euros (average on 31 July) and 1.939 on the motorways and diesel at 1.725 euros and 1.836 euros on the motorway. Far from the costs of summer 2023 and the peak of 14 March 2022 with 2.184 euros for petrol and 2.154 for diesel
The decrease has been going on for about twenty days. July 8 was the most expensive day with 1.876 per litre for petrol and 1.759 euros for diesel. From that date everything has been constantly decreasing and for now the trend is the same. Surprise: no traditional late July, early August price spike at petrol stations. Of course there are differences, from region to region. The Marche is the most convenient (1.825 petrol and 1.713 diesel on July 26). Veneto follows (1.834), Lombardy (1.837), Piedmont (1.838), Umbria (1.847), Lazio (1.848) and Emilia-Romagna (1.851). On the other side of the ranking the most expensive with Trentino Alto-Adige in first place with 1.888 euros per litre, in particular in the province of Bolzano where it reaches 1.903. Followed by Basilicata (1.884), Sicily (1.883), Sardinia and Valle d’Aosta (1.879). No decreases, but not even increases, for LPG, stable for days at 0.713 euros per liter.
And in the rest of Europe? We are in fourth place in the ranking of the most expensive countries. Prices higher than those in Italy are recorded in Denmark (2,059), the Netherlands (1,998) and Greece (1,893). Looking at the most convenient, Lithuania stands out where petrol costs an average of 1,491 euros. Then there are: Czech Republic (1,509, Slovenia (1,511), Romania (1,516) and Poland (1,526).
Good news, then, for the 28 million Italians expected to travel by car between now and mid-August. But it is too early to claim victory. The price of oil is rising after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Tensions in the Middle East have caused the price of oil to jump by more than 3%. Brent has surpassed $80 a barrel. Are you ready for a new run on black gold? “The elevated geopolitical risk and recent developments in the region will only temporarily impact oil benchmarks. Unless infrastructure is affected, the rally is unlikely to last long,” oil analyst Gaurav Sharma told Reuters.
But attention remains high. The price of oil, combined with the “speculative” habit of the holiday exodus effect, does not allow us to consider the danger of a boom in prices at fuel stations for holidaymakers as having been averted.
