On the day when the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy announced that fuel prices at the pump continue to fall (along the national road network the average price in “self-service” mode is €1.777/l for gasoline and €2.144/l for diesel, while on the motorway network it is respectively €1.810/l and €2.176/l), the long queues of cars with non-Italian license plates at border stations are becoming increasingly noticeable.
FROM LIGURIA TO LOMBARDY TO FRIULI
According to the industry website Autoblog, “In Switzerland, unleaded 95 gasoline has reached about 1.89 francs per liter, while diesel exceeds 2.20 francs.” For this reason, “Today it is no longer only Italians crossing the border to save money, but also many Swiss and cross-border workers who fill up in Italy before crossing the border. The reason is simple: savings can reach up to 24.4 cents per liter.”
Moving further south, by the sea, according to the local newspaper Riviera24, the increased influx of “cross-border motorists” even caused significant fuel shortages at gas stations in the far reaches of Liguria during the Easter weekend: “in the Ponente area, between Ventimiglia and Camporosso” with “important reports also in Sanremo.”
Turning to the Northeast, attention is especially on what happens across the border, in Slovenia, where – reports Telefriuli – some “companies have imposed a 30-liter limit per fill-up.” Here, however, Italians could be partly responsible. The decision is based on a “sudden increase in consumption, linked both to large quantity purchases by residents and the arrival of foreign motorists attracted by the lower prices practiced in Slovenia compared to neighboring countries.”
According to Il Piccolo, however, “it is still worth filling up in Friuli Venezia Giulia despite the price drops in Slovenia.” The Northeast newspaper explains: “fuel supply with the resident card will remain convenient in any area of Friuli Venezia Giulia considering the benefits provided by the Region.”
CROSS-BORDER FUEL BUYERS OR SIMPLE TOURISTS?
For many national newspapers that have reported the news of dry pumps in the North near the borders, it would be a direct consequence of the excise cut desired by the Meloni government, on which however the local press proceeds cautiously: “An unprecedented phenomenon for the territory – the analysis again by Riviera24 –, which initially some linked to international tensions related to the Middle East and dynamics in the Strait of Hormuz, but which actually, according to emerging information, has a much more local explanation: it was in fact the French cross-border workers who emptied the pumps, taking advantage of the Easter holiday combined with good weather, who stormed the Riviera dei Fiori and, upon returning, filled up in Italy, where prices are significantly lower than in France.”
The same phenomenon also occurred further north, in Lombardy, at the border with Switzerland. Another local newspaper, VareseNews, details: “After the Easter holidays, motorists in Varese found several service stations out of fuel. A problem symptomatic of a complex situation, which particularly concerns decisions made by oil companies dealing with supply problems due to the Middle East crisis.” Here too, the advice is to avoid hasty interpretations since the problem would be linked only “to a very limited extent to the increase in Swiss customers.”
The local newspaper interviewed Massimo Sassi, territorial president of the Italian Federation of Gasoline Retailers (Faib Confesercenti), who revealed details so far not included in the mainstream narrative: “For every order of 20,000 liters, oil companies may deliver only 15,000,” fearing “running out of stocks and no longer being able to guarantee the quotas reserved for the State and public services: from ambulances to law enforcement vehicles.”
Added to this would be an unspecified hitch in the distribution of one of the main brands that caused fuel shortages even at pumps far from the national borders, as reported today by ForlìToday: “the problem would not be crude oil scarcity, but a logistics glitch at Eni. […] There are about 600 Eni-branded stations currently without product nationwide. The reason? Paradoxically, the brand’s excessive competitiveness.”
NOT ONLY WATCHING PUMP PRICES WITH BATED BREATH…
In short, rationing that already smells of austerity also seems to be affecting the situation. While it cannot be stated with certainty that cross-border fuel buyers have emptied the fuel, it can be hypothesized that the war Israel and the USA have ignited in Iran pushed most people, during the Easter weekend, to vacation close to home, limiting themselves to crossing the border.
What is certain, however, given the stalemate in negotiations between the parties involved in the conflict, is that there are no certainties about what will happen at the pump after May 1 (which, falling on a Friday, creates a long weekend that many will take advantage of for short trips), when the government extension on the excise cut expires.
But above all, broadening the view, uncertainties about the health of our economy are increasing, between a galloping return of inflation now taken for granted, the hypothesis of a new interest rate hike before summer by the ECB, and the recession scenario already hinted at in recent days by the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti.
