TotalEnergies pledges 8 to 12 cent diesel cut and 20 cents off GNR after stock release

The pledge at Matignon

TotalEnergies will cut the price of diesel at its stations by 8 to 12 cents a litre for private motorists and by 20 cents a litre for non-road diesel (GNR), CEO Patrick Pouyanné said on Monday, 12 October. He spoke after a meeting at Matignon with fuel distributors around Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The reductions depend on the destocking of 10 million barrels from strategic stocks, which is due to begin in early November. Lecornu had put the expected effect at 12 to 18 cents a litre, but Pouyanné said that for TotalEnergies the figure will rather be 8 to 12 cents, a reduction of about ten cents.

Pouyanné also gave an example of the price at the group's stations, saying:

If the advantage we are being given existed today, the price would be around 2.15 euros at our stations.

A cap that stays in place

TotalEnergies will keep its diesel price capped at 2.25 euros a litre for private customers. The group has held that cap since 22 July, and its petrol is capped at 1.99 euros a litre over the same period. The average diesel price in France peaked above 2.40 euros in September. The GNR price is not capped at the group's stations, which is why the 20 cent cut applies to farmers, construction firms and fishermen.

Pouyanné said the group's market share has risen sharply. He put its 2025 share at 23% and said it is now above 30%, while its share of GNR sales is roughly 35%. According to Mobilians, as cited by BFMTV, mass retail accounted for 65% of fuel sales in France last year, and service stations for 35%, of which 23% went to TotalEnergies.

Stock release and allocation

BFMTV reports how the 10 million barrels would be divided on the basis of 2025 market shares. On that split, TotalEnergies would obtain 2.3 million barrels of diesel, mass retail 6.5 million barrels and other service stations 1.2 million barrels. Pouyanné said other stations will hold more of the released stock than TotalEnergies does.

Russia sanctions and refining margins

Pouyanné said he expects an easing in the diesel market following the agreement announced by Washington with Moscow on that fuel. The United States has lifted sanctions on Russian diesel, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas argued that this helps fuel the Kremlin's war against Ukraine. Pouyanné said the release of strategic stocks by European countries such as France, together with the announcement on Russia, should push diesel prices down.

I think these various measures, the release of strategic stocks by European countries like France, plus this announcement on Russia, should somehow push down the price of diesel.

He added that refining margins, the gap between oil product prices and the crude price, have fallen considerably. The destocking that will support the November cuts is scheduled to start in early November.