It's war between gas station attendants and the government. The associations of petrol station operators have called a strike, scheduled from 19.00 on 24 January 2023 to 07.00 on 27 January 2023, following the measures launched by the CDM and the accusations "of speculation" on the price of gasoline by some ministers. “It is the government that raises prices,” they accuse Faib-Confesercenti, Fegica, Figisc-Confcommercio, “and unloads the responsibility on the managers who become the recipients of insults and insults from exasperated motorists. A shameful media campaign has been launched against the category. Then a state of agitation was declared throughout the network and a strike against the behavior of the Government ". "The traffickers of illegality who operate in tax and social security evasion and who subtract over 13 billion euros a year from the Treasury are being beatified". Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defends the decisions of his executive and underlines that “col cut of excise duties there would have been no other help.”
But what's going on? The gas stations prompted one strike two days (January 25 and 26) accused "of having speculated on the price of petrol" by some government officials. And immediately someone ran for cover. “When we speak of speculation on the price of petrol we are naturally not speaking of the poor manager of the pumps, who has a minimal income because we are speaking of a few cents per litre. We are talking about international speculation on the price of gas and petrol which is evident", said the Minister for Relations with Parliament Luke Ciriania 'Radio too'.
Record petrol price: CDM approves decree on transparency, but what is it for?
The Council of Ministers has passed a decree to promote the transparency of fuel prices at service stations in recent weeks. First, it will locate a national average price – elaborated every day by the Ministry of the Environment – which will have to be compulsorily exposed to the pump, penalty fines and suspension of the activity from seven to ninety days in case of recidivism. The new measures envisage that a special rule sets a ceiling on increases in the cost of fuel on the motorways.
Information that, on balance, does not bring any concrete advantage to motorists.
Meanwhile, the Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) has requested collaboration from the Fiamme Gialle in order to acquire the documentation relating to the recent price checks carried out.
Record petrol and diesel prices: is there really speculation?
Several members of the Executive spoke of "speculation" for the record increase in the price of petrol. But is this really the case or is the increase in line with the failure to extend the cut in excise duties introduced by the Draghi government? If for Matt Salvini "there is someone who is smart" and for Gilberto Pichetto Fratin "real speculation is underway", Prime Minister Meloni is more cautious and does not respond to the insinuations launched by the two ministers but limits herself to defending her choice of eliminate the cut in excise duties starting January 2023, XNUMX.
But there really is speculation on price of gasoline? First of all, the cut in excise duties introduced by the Draghi government and abolished by the Meloni government was worth 18,3 euro cents per liter on petrol and diesel, already halved compared to the 30,5 cents of March 2022. According to the weekly survey published by the Ministry of Economic development, prices – between 1 and 8 January – for petrol and diesel in self mode they stood respectively at 1,812 euros per liter and 1,868 euros per liter.
Let's take the data from the previous week, the one from 26 to 31 December, before the deletion of the discount on excise duties. For petrol (again in self mode) the price was 1,644 euros per litre, while for diesel it was 1,707. Therefore the price has risen by 0,168 euros per liter for petrol and 0,161 euros for diesel. What does it mean? Against the lack of discount on excise duties of 18,3 cents, the price of petrol increased by 16,8 cents and that of diesel by 16,1. From this it already seems evident that it is not speculation, indeed the price has grown less than one would have expected considering the taxes.
But even if we consider the daily variation - on average for petrol in self-service mode of 1,82 euros per liter and for diesel of 1,87 euros per liter - the increases are in line with excise duties (18,3 cents), all the more so if we consider that since the beginning of the year oil quotations they have risen slightly.
Other factors contribute to the final price
Part of the price of petrol also depends on oil quotations. The reference index is that of Brent, which has always been around 82 dollars a month since around mid-December, with a peak at the end of the month: on 30 December it closed at 85. An increase which led to an increase of around 2 cents on the price of petrol, to be added to the non-extension of the discount on excise duties. Furthermore, we buy oil in dollars and therefore also the dollar-euro exchange it affects and, obviously, the stronger the dollar is, the higher the price is for us who pay in euros.
But it doesn't end there. In addition to the price of petrol and crude oil prices, it must be considered that the final cost at the pump of petrol at the pump is also determined by other factors, including processing, refining, storage and distribution which have undergone several increases with the surge in inflation.
So why are ministers talking about speculation? It is true that there are price differences between one distributor and another, but these are not the result of manager speculation, but of price adjustment that have always existed. For example, the (unbranded) "white pumps" are not linked to multinationals and are able to cut costs, like the transportation fee buying directly from local refineries. And it is precisely these savings that lower the price of fuel.
There is also talk of the surge in the prices of petrol stations on the motorway. But the higher prices must also count the canon payable to the motorway operator and personnel costs.
So the price of petrol and diesel has certainly increased, but this is simply due to the restoration of the pre-war values of VAT and excise duties and not to speculation. On average, in fact, the cost at the pump is exactly what one would have expected without the discount. And it is said that there will not be a slight drop in the price of petrol in the next few days following the drop in oil prices.