In order to cope with the rise in oil prices and to protect, a little, the French wallets, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, asked TotalEnergies to extend its cap on prices at the pump. “I hope that TotalEnergies, which has made a commitment to cap the prices of all fuels, diesel and gasoline, at 1.99 euros until the end of the year, extends this cap […] beyond the 31st December 2023,” he declared this Thursday, September 7, on France Info.
“TotalEnergies is the only major French oil company that we have left, it must be an asset for all motorists,” insisted Bruno Le Maire, before expressing his “confidence” in the fact that the boss of the energy company Patrick Pouyanné “ take into consideration the difficulties of our compatriots”.
A meeting with the energy company took place on Wednesday at the Ministry of Energy Transition to “take stock of the price of fuel and discuss an extension of the cap at 1.99 euros beyond January 1, 2024,” indicated the entourage of Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher. “New discussions” are planned for Thursday and in the coming days with TotalEnergies “and other representatives of the sector,” the same source adds.
The government, on the other hand, is ruling out any new generalized rebate on fuel prices, having already resorted to this solution in 2022. For Bruno Le Maire, this measure is a “triple aberration: ecological, budgetary and diplomatic”.
“Two countries, Saudi Arabia and Russia, have decided to reduce their production, this obviously has an impact on the price” by restricting global supply, acknowledged the minister. Under these conditions, a new government rebate would amount, according to him, to “paying for the oil diplomacy of [Vladimir] Putin and Saudi Arabia.”
