Going up almost as fast as they went down: fuel prices are playing a rollercoaster game in Luxembourg.
After plummeting in 2020, they are now once again on the rise.
At the beginning of 2020, they first experienced a rapid fall when the coronavirus brought the world economy and oil prices to a standstill. Between the beginning of January and the end of April, diesel plunged by more than 35 cents (from €1.202 per litre on 7 January to €0.835 on 24 April). The same was true for petrol, both for unleaded 95 (from €1.226 to €0.891 on the same dates) and unleaded 98 (from €1.356 to €0.97).
At the bottom of the hole when consumption and the market were at their lowest, fuel prices then underwent a spectacular recovery, fuelled by the revival of oil consumption.
By 11 March 2021, a litre of diesel was being sold for €1.167, compared with €1.277 for petrol 95 and €1.344 for unleaded 98.
Although at their highest point for a year, and despite the taxes imposed by the Luxembourg government, prices displayed at petrol stations have in fact been much higher in the past. Before the beginning of 2020, prices recorded by the Groupement pétrolier show two "peaks" in October 2018 and May 2019. Diesel was then worth €1.184 and €1.164 respectively. For unleaded-95, it was €1.292 and €1.316.
These prices could almost be considered affordable when compared with those charged in the early 2010s. Between October 2011 and April 2013, a litre of diesel almost never cost less than €1.20. And it was never less than €1.30 for a litre of petrol.
Here are the three highest prices since 2009:
