By Andrea Hargraves 
The sharp drop in oil prices has caused selling fuel prices to fall by about 40 cents per liter in less than two months, about ten of them today. But it is the tax cut that allows prices to be lower than they were before the war.
Monday, August 8, half the country is on vacation, forecasts of weak heat on the beaches … and at gas pumps. Fuel prices are currently benefiting from a sharp drop of about ten cents per liter.
Filling a 50-liter tank today can cost almost five euros less than yesterday. And a 300-kilometre trip (in a car that uses about six liters per 100 kilometres) today can cost nearly 2 euros less.
Calculations are based on estimates A decrease of 10 cents on petrol and 9 cents on dieselwhich will go into effect today, although it can only be officially confirmed tomorrow.
At the basis of this decline are the prices of petroleum products, both refined products and raw materials: last week ended with the global oil price (measured by the Brent index) just above $94, a similar dollar value to what happened. On February 23, on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, the value remains more expensive in euros, as the European currency has depreciated by about 9% against the US dollar since the start of the war.
The drop in oil prices is partly related to the prospects for an economic slowdown. But it eased some of the tension that existed over oil.
Gasoline drops about 40 cents in less than two months
Simple 95 gasoline should be sold today at an average price of less than 1.8 euros per liter, the lowest since the beginning of February, that is, even before the war.
This means that since the price peak in Portugal, which occurred on June 10 (when it was sold on average at 2,188 euros per liter), the price of simple 95 gasoline has fallen by about 40 cents.
The drop in the price of diesel, which should be sold today at a value close to 1.75 euros per liter (the lowest since the end of February), was less pronounced but faster.
Since the record price cap, which occurred on June 23 (when the liter price was on average 2,111 euros), the average selling price of diesel has fallen by nearly 35 cents per liter.
This means, for example, that filling a 50-liter diesel tank in a car costs about 17 cents less today than it did about a month and a half ago.
Oil companies are still earning more
These final price declines, however, do not mean that fuel prices are identical to those recorded in February.
This adjustment in prices with respect to February is only possible because the state now charges lower taxes than it did at the time. Otherwise, the price of gasoline would be 32.1 cents per liter, and diesel 28.2 cents per liter more expensive.
If the country receives less and the Portuguese pay about the same in February, then the other components of the price are more expensive then: who sells the raw material, who converts it and who sells it. This includes oil companies that have increased their profits around the world in recent months. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week criticized the “immoral profits” of oil and gas companies.