Europe's Fuel Price Woes: A Refining Problem

The prices of petrol and diesel in Europe have been driven up not just by high crude oil costs, but also by refining problems.

Brent crude oil has traded between $73 and $126 a barrel since February, but European fuel prices remain close to their historical highs. Petrol averaged €1.95 a litre across the EU in August, about 4% below its June 2022 peak of €2.03, while diesel averaged €2.04, around 3% below its record of €2.11 in April.

Sumit Ritolia, lead analyst for refining supply and modelling at Kpler, told Euronews Business that 'the key reason for the widening gap between crude and European fuel prices is that this is increasingly a refining and product-supply problem rather than simply a crude-supply problem.'