TotalEnergies holds diesel at 2.25 euros while the war runs
TotalEnergies is keeping diesel capped at 2.25 euros and petrol at 1.99 euros at mainland France stations while the Middle East war runs. Researchers calculated that energy imports from March to August cost 330 billion dollars more than forecast. The fixed pump price and the swollen import bill show how war costs split between consumers and buyers.
Economics & Markets··Midday
TotalEnergies keeps the pump ceiling in place
TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said on France Inter on Saturday that the pump ceiling would stay in place for as long as the Middle East war lasts. The measure was introduced in March, shortly after the war began, and was reinstated in July. It holds diesel at 2.25 euros a litre and petrol at 1.99 euros a litre at every TotalEnergies station in mainland France. Pouyanné estimates the ceiling has cost the company between 250 million and 300 million euros, while saying he has no precise account of the figure.[1]
The global import bill swelled by 330 billion dollars
Figures released this week by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air put the extra cost of importing oil, fuels and liquefied natural gas between March and August at 330 billion dollars against the prices analysts had forecast. Crude oil is the largest line at 164.1 billion dollars. Diesel and gasoil added 73.8 billion dollars, gasoline 35.7 billion dollars, liquefied natural gas 38 billion dollars and jet fuel 20 billion dollars. By region the European Union carried the heaviest load at 78 billion dollars, while China paid an extra 35 billion dollars and India an extra 22 billion dollars.[2]
Company profit and what the bill excludes
Pouyanné says market share rose a little as more customers came through the forecourts, and that the larger return was public sympathy for a company that employs 35,000 people in France. The company doubled second-quarter net profit from a year earlier to 5.4 billion dollars. The research centre stresses that the figures reflect what importers actually bought, not what they would have bought had the war not begun. The fixed pump price is a step aimed at consumers; the 330 billion dollar calculation measures the extra bill importers paid.[1], [2]
