Oil boycott makes petrol just as expensive as it was for excise duty reduction
The oil boycott of Russia by the European Union leads to higher fuel prices. The consumer price for a liter of petrol rose by 5.4 euro cents in two days, the largest increase since the early days of the Russian invasion.
The price for a liter of Euro95 was 2.44 euros on Wednesday, almost as much as before the excise duty reduction at the beginning of April and a quarter more than before the invasion. Diesel is also more expensive, although that price has seemed more stable in recent weeks. “Diesel is mainly used by the transport sector, so demand has remained fairly constant during the corona period,” says Paul van Selms of comparison website United Consumers. ‘Demand has increased for petrol.’
Only the Norwegians and Danes pay more for a liter of petrol. Since Wednesday, refueling in Germany has been even cheaper, due to a tax reduction of 30 cents for petrol and 14 cents for diesel. On Wednesday morning, a liter of petrol in Germany was sometimes 40 cents cheaper than in the Netherlands.
More traffic jams than before the pandemic, the busiest week before Ascension since 2019
The high fuels do not seem to be a reason for the Dutch to leave their car, according to data from Rijkswaterstaat about traffic jams. The congestion intensity – the number of kilometers of traffic jam times its duration – was even higher last April and May than in the comparable period before the corona pandemic.
In 2019, it was only the rainy months of October and November that were busier than last May. The Netherlands was certain, especially after the May holiday: the week before Ascension Day saw the most traffic jams since the beginning of 2019. There were more than 4 thousand kilometers of traffic jams per day. In the quietest week of recent years, around the turn of the year of 2020/2021, this was 12.3 kilometers.