In France, 3.5 million homes are still heated with domestic fuel oil, mainly in rural areas. But since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the price of fuel oil, a derivative of petroleum, has skyrocketed. In one year it went from 0.9898 euros per liter to 1.599 euros, an increase of 61%.
In a context of high inflation that threatens the purchasing power of households, this rise in prices has led some French people to delay filling the deposit, preferring to let the expenses of the summer holidays go by.
panic since march
Fuel oil distribution companies are beginning to see a pick-up in demand. “Customers are beginning to fill up, unlike in March when we put little quantity,” says one of them.
In March, just weeks after the conflict in Ukraine began, many concerned people placed an order to upgrade their fuel oil tank, panicking that prices would continue to rise and fuel oil would run out.
Already at the time, professionals warned of the risk of shortages. Even the French Federation of Fuels, Fuels and Heating (FF3C) intervened, recommending professionals and individuals to avoid purchases “as a precaution”. Denouncing prices that reached “aberrant levels”, the Federation hoped that they would have dropped after the summer. But if it has actually gone down, fuel oil is still much more expensive than before the crisis.
Source: BFM TV
