Motoring groups demand petrol investigation
Tuesday 31 May 2011By EU Reporter correspondent
An alliance of European motoring organisations has written to the European Commission calling for an investigation into the price of fuel.
The call comes from the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in a letter to the Commission.
The group represents 35 million European drivers. The FIA said the way petrol prices are currently set was "far from transparent".
A full tank of fuel for an average European car now costs around £10 more than it did a year ago. The price of fuel in the UK reached record levels in April as the cost of Brent crude rose above $125 a barrel.
Although the price of crude has fallen $10 since then, motoring groups say the wholesale price of petrol has not fallen as fast.
The price of crude oil is only one factor affecting the petrol price. Oil is traded in dollars, so the exchange rate against the dollar has a big impact on prices.
Taxes, transportation and refining costs also vary - impacting the cost of fuel at the pump.
But the FIA says the EU should investigate the way petrol prices are set for the European market. Most European petrol prices are derived from the Rotterdam spot market where some cargoes of petrol and diesel are bought and sold.
But the FIA is not sure that this market works effectively. "A platform with such a small volume is doubted to be a representative indicator for the vast European market," said Werner Krauss, chairman of the FIA Eurocouncil.