The liter of gasoline and diesel will be capped at 1.99 euros this year in the 3,400 TotalEnergies service stations in France, announced Wednesday, February 22, the group’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, at “8 p.m.” TF1. “In all TotalEnergies stations in 2023, diesel and gasoline will not exceed 1.99 euros,” said Pouyanné, who was under pressure from the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, to make a “gesture” . “This measure for all protects our customers from being overpriced,” he added.
This promise will be valid for the following gasoline and diesel fuels: Diesel Premier B7, Diesel Premier B10, SP95-E10, SP95-E5, Superethanol E85. On the other hand, it will not be for the top-of-the-range Excellium diesel and unleaded 98 products.
The measure will be effective from March 1 until the end of the year. It will apply from Saturday in the group’s motorway stations, which concentrates around a third of the 10,000 French service stations, he said on Twitter.
Discounts at the pump of 20 and then 10 cents
The company, which earned 20.5 billion dollars (19.1 billion euros) in profits in 2022, had been under pressure from the Head of State since the day before to make a “gesture” in this period of strong inflation, caused among other things by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I hope that the dialogue can be finalized between the ministry and the companies concerned as it was done last year on fuels with rebates at the pump which had been made by companies like Total”, declared Mr. Macron Tuesday.
From September to December 2022, TotalEnergies had granted pump discounts of 20 and then 10 cents, for a total cost of 550 million euros. The principle was different from the cap announced on Wednesday, because the rebate applied regardless of the price at the pump. This was on top of a state-funded rebate, which ended on December 31 and which the government was unwilling to extend in the name of fiscal responsibility.
Instead, a fuel allowance of 100 euros can be requested from mid-January, and until the end of March, for the 10 million poorest tax households using the car to go to work. Tuesday morning, the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, recalled that this fuel allowance had not yet been requested by many potential beneficiaries.
Prices at the pump remain for the moment well below the symbolic bar of 2 euros. The European embargo on Russian diesel, in force since the beginning of February, could however make diesel more expensive in the future. Last week, diesel was sold in France at an average price of 1.8382 euros per liter, and unleaded 95-E10 at 1.8776 euros.
