Next Monday, diesel will rise two cents per liter, while gasoline will drop four cents, according to the National Association of Fuel Retailers (ANAREC). Prices should be around 2.132 euros per liter of simple diesel and 2.06 euros per liter of simple 95 gasoline. Despite the increase in diesel prices, record levels have not yet been reached, which occurred on April 12 this year, when drivers paid 2.1397 euros per liter.
The Executive increased the ISP discount on both fuels, a mechanism that translates the ISP reduction in the measure of the VAT revenue increase. The government set a threshold of 10 cents for fuel support, calculated from the week of March 2 to 6, before the coordinated attack on Iran by the United States and Israel. Since then, diesel has recorded a cumulative increase of 49.4 cents and gasoline of 35 cents.
The PS Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, accused the Government of profiting from the rise in fuel prices, having visited a fuel station in Tuy, Spain, to highlight Portugal's loss of competitiveness. The Minister of Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, rejected the accusation, guaranteeing that the government does not profit from the crisis. The minister also stressed that the price difference between Portugal and Spain is identical to that between Spain and France.
Brent futures contracts closed on Friday falling 2.81%, to 104.61 dollars per barrel, interrupting five consecutive sessions of gains. This decline reflected Iran's announcement of a meeting on Monday with eight Gulf coastal states to address safe navigation routes in the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which transports approximately seven million barrels of crude per day, was shut down preventively following multiple drone attacks from Iraq.
