Difference of about 31 cents per litre
For a long time, the price of a liter of diesel was close to that of petrol and diesel was even more expensive for a while. In recent months, however, the diesel price has crept back towards a familiar distance from the petrol price. The difference is now about 31 cents per litre.
Everyone with a fuel car must have looked at the prices with surprise last year, but for diesel drivers it was a very hard blow. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of diesel rose proportionally even faster than the price of petrol and eventually the two fuels even became equally expensive. This did not end the suffering for the diesel driver; diesel even became more expensive than petrol for the first time at the end of August. Meanwhile, the mrb on diesel cars of course simply remained higher than on petrol cars, which completed the financial blow for many diesel drivers. Those times are now behind us and it is now – fortunately for diesel drivers – a lot more familiar at the pump.
Figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics show that petrol is currently just slightly more expensive than on January 1 of this year, while diesel has become 26 cents cheaper. According to Statistics Netherlands, the difference is about 31 cents per liter in practice, while the average national recommended prices for petrol and diesel are 32 cents apart, according to UnitedConsumers. It is not quite at the ‘old’ level yet: at the beginning of 2022, diesel was still about 36 cents per liter cheaper than petrol, although it is only 4 cents off.
The fact that the price of diesel is falling so much faster than the price of petrol has several causes. The main cause seems to be last year’s price increases. At that time, the price for diesel rose disproportionately because it is strongly related to oil imports from Russia. “The war in Ukraine caused a lot of uncertainty in the market,” Paul van Selms of UnitedConsumers recently stated. NU.nl. “The uncertainty is a bit less now. You see that market prices always rise faster than necessary during a panic. Now the market is recovering.” Substantial diesel stocks were also built up at the end of last year to respond to the boycott on Russian oil and it is very likely that Russian diesel will still come this way via detours.
Expected price increases
The EU wants to stop the indirect import of Russian fuel, so if that succeeds, there may be another price increase for diesel. However, the biggest price increase at the pump will be in a month’s time: then the Dutch government will reverse the excise duty reduction on fuel after more than a year. The excise duty reduction on diesel was somewhat less than that on petrol (9.9 cents at 13.8 cents), so that will make a retroactive difference for diesel drivers.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl