Fuel prices in France have risen since the start of the year, continuing the rises seen late last year. This is largely due to the increased cost of crude oil.
The average price per litre of diesel rose from €1.65 to €1.68 between December 6 and January 10
The average price of a litre of SP98 petrol rose from €1.82 to €1.86 in the same time
The average price of SP95 petrol rose from €1.76 to €1.79
Currently, this is due to the price of a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea. This price (in USD) is the baseline against which petrol prices and processing costs are calculated.
“The rise since mid-December has been quite substantial, to say the least,” said Olivier Gantois, chairman of Ufip EM (Union française des industries pétrolières Énergies et Mobilités, the spokesperson for oil companies in France), when contacted by Actu.fr.
“The price was stable in December 2024, at around $73 or $74 per barrel. Since the end of December, it has started to rise, and is currently (as of January 17) at around $81.” This represents an increase of some 10%.
The increase has been constant since December 19, now reaching a high not seen since July 2024 (show figures from tracker website prixdubaril.com). A similar trend has affected the average price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US equivalent.
The price of petrol and diesel in France since 2014VisActu / ConnexionFrance.com
Why has there been such an increase?
Mr Gantois said the reasons were largely due to the UK and US calling for tougher sanctions against Russia, due to its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Ad
“What surprises me is that there has been such an increase,” said Mr Gantois. “For the moment, these new sanctions are only ‘intentions’, or rather announcements, but they are not effective.”
It is not clear if the new Trump administration will call for further sanctions, which could affect the situation even more.
Will prices fall?
Mr Gantois suggested that this is unlikely in the near future, as the conflict continues.
“If we were projecting an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia prices would fall, but that is not the case,” he said.
He added that the recent ceasefire in Gaza had had no impact so far. “Since October 7, 2023, [the conflict] has had no impact [on prices]...So there is no reason to expect that the ceasefire will affect anything,” he said.
Similarly, in early December 2024, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - which decides each month whether to renew its production restrictions - decided to maintain its current levels, to keep the market stable (at its current rates).
In its monthly update for January, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that demand stood at 102.9 million barrels per day at the end of 2024 and that this was predicted to increase to 104 million barrels per day for 2025, reports Actu.
“My feeling is that the market drivers have been in place for two years; they are still in place, and will not change immediately,” said Mr Gantois.
You can find the lowest fuel prices in your area using the map on the official French government price petrol comparison site here.
