As highlighted by the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, prices at the pump have been falling since this morning. Based on the latest data collected by the Observatory, the average price of fuel in 'self-service' mode along the national road network is equal to 2.152 euros per liter for petrol (2.159 yesterday's price) and 2.369 euros per liter for diesel (2.377 yesterday's price). On the motorway network, however, the average self-service price is 2.214 euros per liter for petrol (2.254 yesterday's price) and 2.420 euros per liter for diesel (2.459 euros yesterday).
And Eni's "roof" has sparked the race for supplies in Naples since dawn today. The case of the petrol station in Via Cristoforo Colombo is emblematic, which is located a few steps from the Via Marina intersection, which in approximately 3 and a half hours delivered more than two thousand liters of petrol.
For a weekly 50-litre tank, according to the same analysis, a family will save 8.45 euros with a petrol car and 9.35 euros with a diesel car. Over the initial 30 days of the measure, the advantage is 36-40 euros per car, which would rise to 115-127 euros in the event of an extension until 31 December. More relevant, Unimpresa calculates, is the effect on micro and small businesses that get their supplies at the pump. A craftsman with a van and a consumption of 80 liters per week saves 12.26 euros per week net of VAT, a local trade and distribution business with 120 liters 18.39 euros, a last mile courier with 240 liters 36.79 euros. For a fleet of ten vans the benefit reaches 245 euros per week and over 3,300 euros until the end of the year.
Also starting today is the price limit imposed by Socar for IP distributors. The group, it is explained, has decided to "strengthen its commitment towards Italy" with "the aim of setting a limit to the sales prices of petrol and diesel along the fuel distribution network". The cap "will be applied progressively" and as mentioned, starting from the IP-branded network, it could then extend to Esso-branded stations and to other operators who supply themselves from IP.
The National Consumers Union (UNC) has a positive comment on Eni's initiative, which highlights how the reduction in tariffs in this first phase is slow, especially on the motorway. "From yesterday to today the average price has fallen by 3.9 cents for diesel, equal to 1.95 euros for a 50 liter tank, -1.59%, while petrol has fallen by 4 cents, -2 euros per refueling, -1.77%", says President Massimiliano Dona who is asking the government for intervention: "It must do its part and cannot wash its hands of it like Pontius Pilate, perhaps taking credit for the initiative Eni".
Along the same lines is Assoutenti's comment which defines a lowering of prices at the pump as possible. "Beyond the government's initiatives on excise duties, oil companies have profit margins available that allow them to intervene directly on prices at the pump, having already made enormous profits along the entire supply chain", claims president Gabriele Melluso
Assopetroli-Assoenergia welcomes "the initiatives announced by Eni and Socar-Ip to contain the price of fuel. It is a positive signal, which must now also be extended to wholesale sales to reach families and businesses that today remain excluded and guarantee balanced conditions of competition between all operators", reads the note released by the association which met the emergency presidential committee this morning. "The initiatives announced are positive. The next step is to extend the benefits to the entire market", says Andrea Rossetti, President of Assopetroli-Assoenergia. "We therefore ask the government to immediately open a discussion with the entire distribution chain to identify together the necessary solutions so that the measures against high fuel prices are generalized, truly effective and non-discriminatory".
The decision to set a price cap is accompanied by some concern for the distribution market. The alarm comes from sector operators, who warn of the possible repercussions of the decision. Figisc, the Federation of petrol plant managers adhering to Confcommercio, first of all points out that it is the public energy giant "that takes the chestnuts out of the fire in place of the State".
Before Socar announced its intention to set a price cap for fuel in IP distributors, it was highlighted how Eni's decision could have "the effect of upsetting the distribution market": a system which - it is pointed out - "is still an economic system that must hold up". The thesis formulated by some, which has been discussed, is that it is an operation "implemented by virtue of a dominant position, dumping and unfair competition". Repercussions are feared for other managers, "who will find themselves, without their company's safety net, out of the market". But also for those who apply the discount: "What will they do when it is difficult to meet supplies?".
The reflections are based on what has already happened in France, where TotalEnergies set a price ceiling in the spring and then extended it several times. The move has made independent operators nervous - who in July filed a complaint with the French Antitrust, claiming that the initiative distorts competition - and has also had repercussions on inventories, with distributors under siege and fuel in short supply. In Florence, for example, with the start of the reductions, the first queues of motorists formed, waiting at the two Eni petrol stations along Via Senese, the road leaving the Tuscan capital where numerous refueling stations are concentrated.
In Sicily, tensions over high fuel prices are affecting the road haulage sector with the trade committee announcing a protest stop from 16th to 20th October. "Having received no response from the national government to our request for intervention on the high cost of fuel and no news relating to the Sea Modal Shift payments, the Sicilian hauliers' committee has proclaimed a halt to transport and will not move its semi-trailers in the ports of Sicily starting from 00.01 on 16 October for five days until midnight on 20 October", coordinator Salvatore Bella said in a note. "We will remain stationary with our trucks in our yards until the Government gives us answers."
