Italy’s industry and energy security ministers will meet with executives from the Italian refining sector in early October to discuss how refineries could raise diesel and gasoline production to help lower the record-high fuel prices.
Adolfo Urso, the Industry Minister, and his Environment and Energy Security colleague, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, have invited refining industry executives to a meeting on October 8 to discuss potential measures to boost domestic fuel output, Italy’s Industry Ministry said on Friday.
Representatives from Italy’s sector association, Unem, as well as from refining and energy companies Sonatrach, Socar-IP, Iplom, KPI, Alma Petroli, Ludoil/Isab, Eni, Saras, and Innovhub, are invited to attend the meeting.
Gasoline and diesel prices in Italy have soared in recent weeks, with the average price of gasoline hitting 2.14 euros per liter this week, or the equivalent of nearly $10 per gallon. Diesel prices are even higher, due to the jump in international crude oil prices and the global diesel crunch, which Europe has felt particularly badly.
The Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has spent so far this year about 3 billion euros, or $3.4 billion, to fund several rounds of tax and excise duty cuts on fuels.
Italy, alongside the other major economies in Europe such as Germany and France, has seen record-high diesel prices in recent days.
Refinery capacity is constrained in the Middle East due to Iranian strikes on refineries and the trickle of fuel flows through Hormuz, which are much lower than the crude oil cargoes estimated to be transiting the chokepoint every day.
Then there is also severely restricted refining capacity in Russia due to Ukrainian drone strikes at Russian refineries. Russia has banned diesel exports until the end of September and is likely to extend the ban through the end of October.
Record-high gasoline and diesel prices in many European markets did what European policymakers couldn’t do in years – shift consumer choice to low-emission vehicles.
Battery electric vehicle sales in Europe, including the UK, Switzerland, and Norway, surged by 52.2% in August from a year earlier as record-high gasoline and diesel prices prompted drivers to flock to battery and hybrid vehicles, data by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, ACEA, showed earlier this week.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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