It is said that the fuel price travels at double the speed of crude oil: if the raw material rises, the cost of petrol and diesel is immediately adjusted upwards; when oil falls, however, the products at the pump remain stable for a long time before falling. In short, quick to go up and slow to go down. At least that's what we thought, but apparently that's not true. It would only be a question of an erroneous “consumer perception”. This is demonstrated by a study by Nomisma, which points out how the correlation between international crude oil prices and distributor prices in Italy is actually very high.
“Econometric and statistical analyzes show that there is no such thing as double speed – explained the president of the research center, Davide Tabarelli, presenting the report today in Rome -. The problem is always the international price, which is highly variable and influenced by finance and which is struggling to translate into a reduction in petrol prices. And the differential between international and national prices is stable, around 15 cents”.
In any case, given the current situation,"there is room for further reduction – Tabarelli said again -. With these prices and with the current trend of the dollar, prices will continue to fall in the coming days. If, as we expect, oil falls below $90 a barrel, prices could fall as much as 20 cents".
As for cupsHowever, consumers' suspicions are confirmed. Nomisma reveals that today fuel taxation in our country covers 57% of the price of petrol and 52% of that of diesel. The industrial price therefore corresponds respectively to 43 and 48% of what we pay. The result is that, for us, the average cost is the highest in Europe. It remains to be seen what will happen if and when VAT increases again.
