In France, the price of fuel at the 3,400 filling stations of the oil company TotalEnergies will not rise above 1.99 euros (HUF 758) from March 1 until the end of the year, Patrick Pouyanné, the president and CEO of the energy giant, announced on TF1 commercial television.
"Diesel and gasoline will not be more expensive than 1.99 euros at all TotalEnergies filling stations in 2023," said the company leader, who was publicly called on by President Emmanuel Macron to "make a gesture" to consumers after closing last year with a record profit. the energy company.
The price restriction will apply to the following products: Diesel Premier B7, Diesel Premier B10, SP95-E10, SP95-E5 and Superethanol E85. However, it does not apply to Excellium diesel and unleaded 98 products.
The measure will be in effect from March 1 until the end of the year, but it will be valid from Saturday at TotalEnergies filling stations on the highways. The energy company owns about a third of the 10,000 filling stations in France.
The energy giant closed last year with a profit of 19.1 billion euros. Since announcing the amount, TotalEnergies has come under pressure from the press and the government to "make a gesture" to motorists in the inflationary period.
On April 1, 2022, the French government introduced a refueling discount at gas stations. The discount of 15 eurocents for all fuels was increased to 30 eurocents on September 1st, then reduced to 10 eurocents on November 15th, and the government completely phased out the discount on December 31st. Instead, it provides a one-off fuel price subsidy of €100 to around 10 million low-income workers who need a car for work or commuting.
From September to December 2022, TotalEnergie provided discounts of 20 and then 10 euro cents at gas stations, which cost the company 550 million euros. The principle of the discount differed from the price cap in that it applied to all products at all Total filling stations in France, together with the government discount.
The average price of fuel is currently well below 1.99 euros in France, hovering around 1.8 euros (685 forints), but according to analysts, due to the embargo against Russian diesel oil, it is possible that fuel prices may rise again in the future.
(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)