Three weeks ago the bonus of 20 cents on fuel ceased to be general to apply only to professional drivers. Since then, individuals have been able to appreciate a rise in the price of gasoline and diesel: It is not caused solely by the disappearance of the discount and the behavior of oil. In her The arrival of a new standard with a European stamp has a lot to do with it.
The Fuel Quality Directive
Since January 1, as it appears in the Official State Gazette, the Community Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) that affects gasoline and diesel has been applied. This legislative act establishes a series of objectives that all EU countries must meet and, in this specific case, decrees the arrival of a series of measures with which they seek reduce greenhouse gas emissions that fuels generate throughout their life cycle.
This decrease should be 6% compared to the reference value, which is the greenhouse gas emissions that fossil fuels, used in the European Union, produced in 2010.
Between three and six cents
To achieve the objective set by the aforementioned directive, there is a path to follow: increase the percentage of biofuel present in each liter of fuel (both gasoline and diesel). It would therefore go from the current 7.5% to 10.5%. The difference may not seem very big, but the key lies in the price of biofuels: they are much more taxed than fossil fuels, which is why they are more expensive.
If its presence increases, so does the final price of gasoline and diesel that drivers find at the pumps of the service station. According to estimates by the Spanish Confederation of Service Station Employers (CEEES), the entry into force of this directive will translate into a rise of between three and six cents per litre.
How much have they risen since January 1?
If we add to this the rest of the factors present in the equation, we will have the explanation for the registered increase since January 1: the price of gasoline has increased by 17% and diesel by 15%. According to the latest European Union Oil Bulletin, if we compare current prices with those of the same week in 2022, we will find an increase of 7.8% for gasoline and 21.8% for diesel.
What average figures are there, currently, in Spain? A liter of gasoline costs 1.62 euros and diesel costs 1.68 euros. Figures with which to fill a 55-liter tank costs 89 and 92 euros, respectively.
However, the price of gasoline and diesel, in Spain, is still far from its historical maximum: the first is 16.6% below the 1.94 euros that we paid the week of June 20, 2022 and the second is 11.6% lower than the 1.9 euros of the week of June 27. Figures that, in addition, are lower than the average for the Euro Zone and the Europe of the 27.
