While diesel prices on several forecourts were higher than unleaded petrol last month, prices are expected to stabilise again this month, with diesel and unleaded levelling at about the same price. Michael McAleer reports.
The recent price rise in diesel has been attributed to increasing shortages in the north-west European fuel market. Normally regarded as the cheaper option, several Irish filling stations were charging more for diesel per litre than unleaded.
A Texaco spokesperson said diesel prices internationally have risen above unleaded in the last few months. He said: "In the last month we've seen diesel prices exceed unleaded by 9 per cent in the first week of March, and by the end of March that difference had risen to 20-21 per cent."
According to Dr Marcel Cohen of London's Imperial College Business School, the international market has been affected by significantly increased demand for diesel because of the war.
"A great deal of the war effort is driven by diesel, from the supply trucks to battle tanks. This increase has left some parts of the market short, and therefore prices have risen in the major dealing floors such as Rotterdam."
Some analysts also attribute the rise in prices here to the clamp-down on smuggled diesel from the North.
However, many in the industry reckon mid-April prices will show diesel and unleaded prices levelling off to about the same price.
The movement in international prices was also masked on the Irish market by the high rates of duty on fuel, which meant a basic price rise before tax or transportation did not represent such a dramatic rise on the final price.