The price of fuel will not “fall anytime soon”, said Monday the president of the strategic committee of the E. Leclerc centers, Michel-Édouard Leclerc, counting on “at least six months, perhaps until next winter, of energy crisis ahead of us”, due to destroyed infrastructure and stranded boats.
“It won’t go down anytime soon and if it does go down, what I hope is for it to be serious because for the moment it’s yo-yoing,” Michel-Édouard Leclerc declared on Europe 1, while oil prices soared again on Monday after the resurgence of tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Threat of a decree capping margins
Ten days ago, as talks between the belligerents were taking shape, Michel-Edouard Leclerc had foreseen a gradual drop in prices at the pump “by ten to 15 euro cents”, while remaining cautious. On Saturday, the government called on distributors to lower these prices after a drop in oil prices last week, threatening a decree to cap margins.
“This is not what will bring down prices,” said the president of the strategic committee of the centers E. Leclerc, while the government is due to bring together this Monday representatives of distributors, who are pleading for the suspension of energy savings certificates. This would make it possible to “reduce the price of gasoline by around 15 to 17 cents” from “tomorrow”, he assured.
Increase of 15% for gasoline and 34% for diesel
The government’s plan to regulate margins on fuel sparked an outcry last week from distributors, who are calling for the “withdrawal” of this text. The draft decree in question aims in particular to “avoid windfall effects”, according to the presentation sheet of the draft text which must be submitted for the opinion of the National Consumer Council and the Council of State.
Since the start of the war in Iran at the end of February and the subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, prices at the pump have risen in France by around 15% for gasoline (to around 2 euros per liter on average on Wednesday) and jumped by 34% for diesel (to more than 2.3 euros per liter on average).
According to a government source, this text gives the government the possibility of capping distributors’ margins, but it is not as such a cap on prices at the pump, which will remain variable depending on changes in the price of refined products.
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