Fuel prices plummet
Motorists enjoy unusual bonus at Easter
At least one good thing to come out of Covid-19 lockdown
THE AVERAGE price of fuel at petrol stations in Valencia region and Murcia has hit a four-year low.
At a time when multinational companies shamelessly hike the cost of petrol and diesel to coincide with the millions of car journeys made for the Easter holidays, motorists are benefitting from the slump.
The bonus at the pumps has arrived due to a combination of factors.
Oil prices fell in March after a price war broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia, when Russia refused to back production cuts that had been agreed with the other members of OPEC.
Brent Crude tumbled from a January high of $70 to close to $30 a barrel in the middle of March. Then the global coronavirus crisis hit demand as airlines cut services and travel restrictions reduced car journeys.
The price of oil fell below $25 a barrel – the lowest level since 2002 – but has now recovered to above $30.
As suppliers control the price which fuel is sold at, the pumps have not completely reflected the fact that a barrel of oil is now half the price it was in January.
In Spain around 11 cents has been shaved off the price of a litre of fuel.
The ministry for the ecological transition in Madrid noted on Friday that prices of diesel and petrol had gone down by an average of 10.56% and 13.93% respectively on the same date last year.
Their figures showed that the average price per litre was now €1.041 for diesel and €1.128 for unleaded 95 octane petrol.
Motorists in Alicante province will have found that they can obtain lower prices from budget petrol stations in their town.
However, the €1.089 for petrol at Gas Express in Torrevieja fell short of prices which are being offered in Lleida province in Cataluña where drivers can fill up for less than one euro a litre.
The low price of fuel is impacting on the cost of living (IPC), with the national statistics institute (INE) reporting this week that average prices had gone down by around 0.3% on last year.