Diesel Price Soars – Over €2.40 per Litre in France

Fuel prices continue to break records across Europe. In France, the diesel price has now surpassed €2.40 per litre, while the EU average for both petrol and diesel has reached the highest levels ever recorded in European statistics.

The French diesel price rose to a record high of €2.41 per litre on Sunday. This figure is based on analysis of prices from more than 8,700 petrol stations and means that the previous record, set just the day before, has already been surpassed.

Petrol prices are also at very high levels. France’s most common petrol, SP95-E10, cost over €2.17 per litre on Sunday. As a result, the price has stayed above the previous record level from 2022 for more than ten days. The premium petrol, SP98, at the same time exceeded €2.28 per litre.

This trend is part of a broader European fuel crisis. According to the European Commission’s latest weekly statistics, the average price of a litre of petrol in the EU was €2.063 as of 14 September, with diesel at €2.159. These are the highest figures in the Commission’s data, which dates back to 2005.

At the same time, there are significant differences between countries. In the current comparison, petrol was cheapest in Malta, while Denmark had the highest price. For diesel, Malta had the lowest price and Finland the highest, at around €2.51 per litre. France was among the countries with the highest prices, but not the very highest.

Behind this price surge lies above all the prolonged conflict in the Middle East and disruptions in global energy flows. Brent crude oil has again risen above $100 per barrel after previously trading much lower before the outbreak of war. Disruptions to oil deliveries from Saudi Arabia have also increased concerns on the European market.

Costlier Refining

But it’s not just crude oil that is pushing up prices at the pump. Refining costs have also risen sharply. Experts at the European Central Bank estimate that, in the third week of September, refinery margins accounted for about €0.41 per litre of the diesel price in the euro area – corresponding to about 19 percent of the pump price. For petrol, the contribution was about €0.17.

Diesel has also become significantly more expensive over the year. The weighted average diesel price in the EU has risen by nearly 40 percent since early 2026, while the petrol price has increased by about 29 percent. According to the ECB’s assessment, diesel margins may continue to climb and may not peak until October.

Could Rise Even Further

For motorists, today’s EU prices mean that a typical 50-litre tank now costs around €103 for petrol and €108 for diesel. And the situation might not be over yet. The ECB has warned that new disruptions in energy supply could push prices even higher and keep them elevated for a longer period.

A lasting decline in fuel prices, according to ECB experts, above all depends on the end of the war in the Middle East, the normalization of transport through the Strait of Hormuz, and a return to more normal levels of global refining.