We ended 2022 with the partial disappearance of the general discount that was applied to fuel: in 2023, the 20 cent bonus will be maintained, only for professional drivers (carriers, farmers, fishermen and shipping companies). Private drivers will be able to benefit from the oil company discount if they are part of their customer programs: what if not? How much will they stop saving when they fill the deposit in 2023?
Before we get out the calculator, let’s put some context. For some time now, the price of gasoline and diesel has registered a downward trend: reason why the Executive has decided to eliminate the general nature of the discount of 20 cents. Diesel accumulates nine weeks of decline (just over two months) and gasoline, six (a month and a half).
To see the prices that suppliers show today we have to go back in time to mid-April (diesel: 1,614 euros) or to the beginning of February (gasoline: 1,559 euros), just before the Ukrainian War began. It should be remembered that, when the discount came into effect on April 1, a liter of gasoline cost 1,818 euros and a liter of diesel cost 1,837 euros.
The average price of gasoline and diesel
The latest Oil Bulletin of the European Union reveals that The average price of gasoline in Spain is €1,565/l, while diesel is €1,643/l: compared to the previous seven days, they have fallen, respectively, by 1.57% and 1.08%. Being an average it is easy to find lower figures in certain service stations, especially in the ‘low cost’ where it is not uncommon to find differences of around 20 cents.
Taking that average price as a reference, which does not include the discount, we have taken out the calculator to check how much it will cost us to fill the tank in the couple of days that remain in 2022 and how much it will mean to do it in 2023… when private drivers no longer have that bonus. The average saving oscillates around ten euros, always depending on the litors that the car admits: Now it’s time to assess whether it’s worth waiting in line at the gas station or not.
How much will it cost to fill the tank in 2023?
With an average price of €1,565/l, filling a tank of 45 liters with gasoline cost 61.42 with the discount and 70.42 euros without it: the difference is nine euros. If your car has a deposit of 55 liters, you will have to pay 75.07 euros with the discount and 86.07 euros without it: here the savings are somewhat higher and reach eleven euros.
In the case of diesel, which has an average price of €1.643/l, fill a tank of 45 liters will have a price of 64.93 euros if we take advantage of the last of 2022 and 73.93 euros if we do it in 2023: the saving is nine euros. with a deposit of 55 liters, the figure that we save is eleven euros, since filling it benefiting from the discount of 20 cents it costs us 79.36 euros and without him, 90.36 euros.
They are no longer among the cheapest in the EU
If you need one more clue to decide between filling the tank in 2022 or doing it in 2023, you should take into account that, without the 20 cent bonus, the gasoline and diesel sold in Spain will cease to be among the cheapest in the European Union: gasoline will no longer occupy the sixth position and diesel will no longer be in second place. Without the bonus, the price per liter of both fuels will be close to the European average: 1.56 euros for gasoline and 1.68 euros in the case of diesel.