TotalEnergies is considering keeping a price ceiling
In France, motorists at TotalEnergies petrol stations now never spend more than €1.99 per liter of regular fuel. That price ceiling may remain in force next year. Minister Bruno Le Maire (Finance) calls on the French oil company to do so.
Oil company TotalEnergies imposed a price ceiling on fuel at the beginning of this year. As a result, prices for petrol and diesel never rise beyond €1.99. Only premium fuels can be more expensive. That price ceiling should also remain in force next year, argues French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. This means that prices at the petrol pump should remain affordable in 2024, now that inflation in France is still high.
TotalEnergies announced at the end of August that it would continue until the end of the year. Last week, the group’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, said he was considering extending the price ceiling to next year. “It is up to Patrick Pouyanné to make this decision, but I welcome the choice that Total has made in recent months,” Le Maire now says. He does trust that the CEO will “take into account the difficulties of our compatriots,” Le Maire added.
Le Maire tries in many ways to reduce costs for residents in his country. He has also had discussions with major food manufacturers such as Unilever and Nestlé about lowering their prices. Prices in France were 5.7 percent higher in August than in the same month a year earlier, European statistics agency Eurostat reported at the end of last month. For comparison: in the Netherlands, inflation in August amounted to 3.4 percent, according to Eurostat.
And the Netherlands?
In our country, fuel prices are likely to rise further next year. The outgoing cabinet wants to reverse an earlier excise duty reduction in January. This makes petrol an additional 21 cents per liter more expensive and diesel 13 cents. Based on the current recommended prices in the Netherlands, which are usually only asked along highways, a liter of Euro 95 would then cost more than €2.40. Diesel will also be well above €2. The ANWB, MKB-Nederland and gas station owner organizations, among others, want the outgoing government to intervene to prevent car fuels from becoming even more expensive, causing financial difficulties for motorists.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl