Bad news for Basque drivers. The price of gasoline picks up in the Basque Country after the weekend and marks new all-time highs. Diesel registers a slight rise but maintains its downward trend. Thus, a liter of gasoline is paid on average in the Basque Country at 1,944 euros, and diesel, at 1,912. And those are the cheapest options. Premium fuels reach 2,091 euros in gasoline and 2 euros in diesel. In Spain, the liter of SP 95 is 1,893 euros and that of diesel A, at 1,873.

When refueling, these amounts must be subtracted from the bonus, a measure that has lost part of the impact with which it was born. On April 1, when it came into force, in the autonomous community the average price of the SP 95 was 1.83 euros, so with the bonus the driver paid 1.63. Now, after applying the discount, it costs the customer a little more than 1.7 euros. The same thing happens with diesel; In the first days of last month, the bonus lowered the price to 1.692 euros per liter while today it leaves it at 1.75. In most stations, the liter of gasoline and diesel is paid at more than 2 euros. Figures that were not reached neither at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine nor during the transport strike.

In principle, the measure that lowers fuels in a general way is in force until June 30, although at that time, depending on the evolution of prices, the Government could study whether to extend its application. Something that the economic vice president, Nadia Calviño, has also linked to the behavior of energy companies. “We have to analyze which are the most effective measures and if we see that some of them keep costs down because operators are raising prices and absorbing this aid, we will withdraw it,” she confirmed in an interview on RNE.

*More cheap gas stations in Euskadi, here.

*More cheap gas stations in Spain, here.

This discount can mean a saving of ten euros when filling a 50-litre tank, a 'respite' that these days has lost its relieving capacity given that prices have exceeded the levels prior to the entry into force of the measure in a very pending political decisions.

The G7 (France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States) have already officially committed to banning or phasing out Russian oil imports. The European Commission wants to do the same, but the decision is more complex as the sixth package of sanctions requires the unanimous support of all EU members. In other words, it must circumvent the blockade of Hungary and Slovakia, which depend almost entirely on Russian oil, which also reaches them through a single pipeline, which makes it difficult to replace them without Russian imports.

For its part, far from meeting the European request to increase oil pumping, OPEC has ensured that production meets demand. According to its secretary general, Mohammad Barkindo, the organization is not going to alter its forecasts because it focuses on the fundamentals of supply and demand and, in his opinion, the shortage is caused by investor fear and not by oil scarcity. . After this decision, it is also necessary to take into account the reluctance to antagonize Russia (which is a member of the parallel organization to OPEC, OPEC), the difficulties in expanding its production in some countries such as Libya or Nigeria and the need to alleviate the drop in Chinese demand due to the confinements.