Petrol prices on the increase again
Price cut for the summer holidays was short-lived, with an extra four or five centimes to be added to a litre this week
PETROL prices in France are set to rise again this week, just a fortnight after the major distributors announced a price cut for the summer holidays.
An extra four to five centimes will be added to the price of a litre in the coming days, as crude oil prices grow again.
Total made the announcement on Saturday, saying the firm's agreement with the government was for prices to follow that of crude oil, whether that was down or up.
Prices at the pump fell at the end of June, in time for the first busy weekend of road travel for the summer break, with unleaded in the region of €1.46 a litre.
This latest increase is likely in the next few days and will bring the price up to about €1.51, about the same level as that seen in early June.
With crude prices continuing to rise, edging close to $120 a barrel, pump prices could reach or break the record €1.55 that was recorded on May 6.
Labour minister Xavier Bertrand has demanded more transparency from the major petrol distributors, who he claimed where quick to increase prices when their costs rose but were not as fast at cutting them.
The Union Française des Industries Pétrolières denies this, saying price changes - in either direction - typically take about a week to come into force.
