The National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) assures that, once all the available information has been analyzed, the service stations are transferring to consumers the discount of 20 cents per liter of fuel that the Government established last April . However, it does not rule out that some service station, individually, has absorbed a part of said bonus in order to increase its margins.
The regulator estimates that the average gross margins for the first five months of this year “do not differ” to a great extent from those presented during the historical series. In this sense, it estimates the earnings of service stations at 21.8 cents for gasoline and 26.8 cents for diesel. This margin includes logistics costs, those associated with points of sale and the costs derived from regulatory obligations, among others. “The implementation of the discount has coincided, during the first months of its validity, with a sustained upward trend in international prices,” he explains in a statement. Of the 12,000 service stations in Spain, in 60% of them the setting of the price corresponds to the owner of the operations, while in the remaining 40% it is the wholesale operators who mark it.
The average price of gasoline during the month of May was 1,929 euros per liter. The breakdown of the amount would be as follows: 0.808 euros of taxes (33 cents of VAT, seven cents of special rate and 40 cents of general rate), 0.21 euros of margin for gas stations and 0.903 euros related to the international price. Regarding diesel, the CNMC estimates the average price at 1,888 euros per liter. Of this amount, 0.707 euros correspond to taxes (32 cents of VAT, seven of a special type and 30 of a general type), 0.268 euros of gross margin and 0.913 euros related to the international price.
The CNMC investigations focus on the rise in refined products since the war in Ukraine began. The regulator stresses that this type of product fluctuates in “a market of great volatility”, reaching increases much higher than those of oil. Thus, as of May 2022, the effects derived from the international price, in absolute terms, have doubled for both the price of gasoline and diesel.
Regarding the sanctions against Russia, it should be remembered that a large number of refineries have facilities prepared to work with Moscow oil, so supply cuts prevent them from producing fuel as normal. This situation has caused a contraction in supply in conditions where demand has not decreased as much, which is why the price increases.
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