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Fuel in France For Members

Will petrol prices in France come down in 2024?

James Harrington
James Harrington - [email protected]
Will petrol prices in France come down in 2024?
Don't expect fuel prices to fall much in 2024. (Photo by GUILLAUME SOUVANT / AFP)

Fuel prices in France remain high at the start of the new year, although not as high as in Autumn 2023. So what can drivers expect in France in 2024?

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The average price for a litre of diesel dipped to €1.67 this week, down from €1.93 as recently as September. And petrol is not far behind, edging nearer to the psychological €1.70 barrier, having been close to €2 since the summer.

According to official data published on Tuesday, 2023 ended with a litre of SP95-E10 priced at €1.78 and diesel at €1.75. 

The last time the price of petrol was so low was in December 2022, when the government’s €0.10 reduction was in place.

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Unfortunately, it seems, drivers cannot expect prices to keep falling. Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced recently that the €100 fuel allowance scheme would be dictated by prices at the pumps, and said that he considered €1.95 to be a ‘reasonable amount’ for a litre of petrol. 

Meanwhile TotalEnergies has extended its €1.99 per litre price cap through 2024. These are both unsubtle hints that the cost is going to remain elevated in the short-term.

One key issue is supply. Global consumption is set to break records in 2024 – forecasts suggest that demand could reach 106million barrels per day, up from 102million in 2023.

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At the same time, oil producing countries that are members of Opec have been slowing production for the better part of a year to keep prices high – US oil is offsetting some of the increase. 

Experts predict, therefore, that the price of a barrel of oil in 2024 will range somewhere between $75 and $85 dollars – Brent Crude was trading at $76.55 on January 3rd – meaning that prices at the pump in France at the beginning of 2024 are probably about as low as they’re going to get this year.

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