Wassila Belhacine 3:18 p.m., March 12, 2022
Fuel prices are reaching historic levels at the start of March 2022. But why are fuels so expensive?
Response on Europe 1 with Phillipe Chalmin, professor of economics at Paris-Dauphine and specialist in raw materials.
This is one of the main concerns of the French.
Questioned by Thierry Dagiral, Philippe Chalmin, professor of economics at Paris-Dauphine and specialist in raw materials, mentioned the factors which cause the rise in fuel prices.
"Fuels are made from oil and the barrel of oil has been particularly unstable in the wake of the energy shock we are experiencing. It is true that we were still at the turn of the year around 80 dollars a barrel. Monday , we have almost come close to 140 dollars. We can say that unleaded 95 and diesel roughly follow changes in the price of a barrel with slight differences. We cannot control this price increase", explains the professor.
Why lowering fuel taxes is difficult
The government has planned to announce a resilience plan to stem the consequences of the war in Ukraine on, in particular, fuel prices.
Philippe Chalmin believes that certain measures, specific to professionals, like road hauliers, are necessary: "Increasing the share of the TICPE, a tax that hauliers do not have to pay, is probably a good idea."
Nevertheless, faced with fluctuating prices, the professor believes that it is difficult to reduce fuel taxation overall: "You have to realize that this has a cost. A penny at the pump is 500 million dollars. euros. So a measure taken by the government could be completely swept away by changes in the price of crude oil", he analyzes.
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"We are in total uncertainty. I had thought for some time that we could have invented fuel vouchers, just as there are restaurant vouchers which could help those who, professionally, need, for example, take their car," he added.