So why are the cheapest pumps in France the ones running out?

Transcript

1. This diesel costs €2.25 a litre.
2. Almost every other station in France charges more for diesel.
3. And this one says it has run out.
4. So why are the cheapest pumps in France the ones running out?
5. The sign belongs to TotalEnergies.
6. Since late July, it has capped its prices at every station it runs in mainland France.
7. Most other stations charge around €2.40 for diesel.
8. France's economy minister calls the shortages
9. a direct consequence of the price cap.
10. Total says the cap raised its market share from 22% to 25%.
11. Each fuel sits in a tank under the forecourt.
12. If drivers buy it faster than deliveries replace it, that fuel runs out.
13. Here are the stations in the government's price data.
14. About 10,000.
15. Each one reports its own shortages.
16. A station counts as out when it has no diesel, or no petrol of any grade.
17. That is the government's own rule.
18. Just under a quarter of these stations are TotalEnergies.
19. In January and February, before the cap,
20. about a third of the stations that ran out were Total's.
21. In March, with the war in Iran driving prices up, Total capped its prices.
22. From early April to the end of June, it was 8 in 10.
23. In July, Total narrowed the cap to about 1,200 rural stations,
24. and motorways on holiday weekends.
25. For those 3 weeks, it was 7 in 10.
26. Since the cap came back everywhere on 22 July, it has been more than 8 in 10.
27. This is a pattern, not proof.
28. Prices, holidays and how stations report all changed too.
29. So how long will the cheaper price last?
30. Total's rivals have filed an
31. unfair-competition complaint with France's competition authority.
32. No decision had been published by 23 September.
33. In August, Total's boss estimated the cap had cost €250 to 300 million.
34. He has promised to keep it as long as the war lasts.
35. He has also threatened to drop price caps for good if extra profits are taxed.
36. France says it is not blocking a European push for that tax.
37. No end date for the cap has been announced.
38. For now, the cheapest diesel in France is also the most likely to run out.