Fuel prices drop: reductions of up to 19 cents per litre

According to the latest survey by Codacons, which monitors fuel trends on a daily basis, over seven days on the ordinary network, petrol recorded an average decrease of 11 cents per litre. For a 50 liter tank it means a lower cost of around 5.50 euros. The reduction in diesel was even more marked, which lost 13.3 cents per litre, with a saving of around 6.65 euros per refueling.

On the motorway the contraction was even more significant: the price of petrol fell by 19 cents per litre, while that of diesel recorded a drop of 19.1 cents. In this case, for a full tank, the saving comes to around 9.5 euros. The drop is also confirmed by data relating to the road network: without considering further interventions, the average price of diesel fuel today would be around 2.308 euros per litre, compared to around 2.247 euros actually recorded. The value would however remain below the 2.369 euros recorded last September 28th.

Above all, the main oil companies contributed to the decline. Eni has introduced a price cap on its network, setting the price of petrol at 1.99 euros per liter and that of diesel at 2.19 euros, with an initial validity of 30 days and the possibility of extension. Ip, Q8 and Tamoil joined the same initiative, progressively extending the discounts to their distributors. Overall, the reductions now concern a significant part of the network: between the Eni and IP stations already affected by the measures, almost a third of the distributors are covered by the reduced prices. In less than a week, according to available surveys, diesel has lost 12.2 cents per litre, a drop approximately double compared to the tax discount set to end today. Even petrol, which remained outside of the interventions for months, went from an average of 2.152 to 2.052 euros per litre.

From tomorrow the mobile excise duty mechanism is expected to come into play. The principle is to use part of the increased revenues deriving from price trends to offset any increases in prices at the pump and limit the impact on consumers. The measure was announced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after the Council of Ministers on 16 September and was subsequently reiterated also in relations with the European Commission. The line was also confirmed in recent days by the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, albeit with caution regarding its concrete application.

Despite the recent trend reversal, the cost of supplies remains significantly higher than pre-crisis levels. According to Codacons, a liter of diesel still costs 52.1 cents more, equal to an increase of 30.2%, compared to the period before the conflict in Iran. For a full tank, the increased expense thus exceeds 26 euros. The overall impact on motorists' budgets also emerges from Adusbef's analysis. In the six months between March and August 2026, Italians incurred over 4.7 billion euros in additional spending on fuel compared to the same period the previous year. In the months of July and August alone the burden reached approximately 1.7 billion. Considering petrol and diesel sold on the road and motorway network, excluding extra-network, motorists spent a total of around 30 billion euros on refueling between March and August. In the same period of 2025 the account had stopped at 25.3 billion, also due to the different composition of excise duties introduced with the reorganization which came into force in January.

The reduction set to end today is part of a broader series of measures adopted by the executive to contain the cost of fuel. Since 19 March 2026, the government has intervened directly on pump prices with 13 measures aimed at reducing excise duties on petrol and diesel. According to estimates by the CGIA Research Office, the interventions entailed a cost of approximately 2.1 billion euros for the State. Added to this figure are approximately 500 million in tax credits intended for the categories most exposed to the increase in fuel costs, such as hauliers, farmers and fishermen. The overall bill therefore comes to around 2.6 billion euros.