Eni cuts recommended diesel price to 2.19 euros, price cap stays at 2.25

Diesel price cut to 2.19 euros

Eni cut the recommended diesel price at distributors by two cents a litre on 9 October, from 2.21 to 2.19 euros. The official price cap stays at 2.25 euros. The 2.19 level matches the price Eni announced on 25 September and applied from 28 September, even though the government's excise discount has lapsed and international crude quotations have risen again. According to Open, the government's excise discount expired and was not extended.

How the price cap moved

Eni set the cap at 2.19 euros for diesel on 25 September, applied from 28 September. On 6 October the cap rose to 2.25 euros after an excise increase of five cents a litre (six cents including VAT). Eni then cut its recommended price to 2.21 euros on 7 October while keeping the cap at 2.25. Corriere della Sera reports that the government had not applied the mobile excise mechanism, which Eni's 25 September note had linked to the excise relief in force. Two days before the latest cut, Giorgia Meloni called for a "full restoration" of the price cap and postponed the reactivation of mobile excise duties to a later stage.

Margins and competitors

Staffetta Quotidiana's calculation of the diesel price, combining the Cif Med quotation with excise and VAT, gives a theoretical price of 2.197 euros this morning. That figure sits just above Eni's cap, and the outlet's analysis points to the squeeze on rivals that follows.

The effect is that it is getting harder for competitors to keep up with Eni: adding the Cif Med diesel quotation, excise and VAT gives a price of 2.197 euros, just seven thousandths above the Eni cap. Seven thousandths that should cover all costs and distribution margins.

The gap between Eni's recommended price and the calculated cost leaves little room for other sellers to undercut the company without losing margin.

Pump prices and brands

According to the ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy's price observatory, the national average self-service price on the road network this morning is 2.258 euros a litre for diesel (down 3 thousandths) and 2.035 euros for petrol (down 2 thousandths). LPG is at 0.768 euros a litre, unchanged, and methane at 1.916 euros per kg, up 2 thousandths. On the motorway network, diesel self-service averages 2.281 euros a litre (down 6 thousandths) and petrol 2.046 euros (down 2 thousandths).

Staffetta's averages for 8 October at 8am, covering about 20,000 stations, show diesel self-service at 2.256 euros a litre, with oil company stations at 2.251 and independent stations at 2.277. Eni's diesel self-service price was 2.226 euros, against 2.269 at IP, 2.252 at Q8 and 2.267 at Tamoil.