Toulouse. Oil: we refuel despite the heat stroke
Domestic fuel oil, a fuel derived from petroleum, undergoes the increase in energy. With the return of the cold, customers of fuel oil dealers are placing new orders.
The cold makes its abrupt return to Haute-Garonne. While the majority of homes are heated by gas or electricity – especially in towns, fuel oil remains present in rural areas. This means of heating is used by nearly 10% of the population. The price of fuel, which is dependent on the price of oil, has skyrocketed with the economic revival which has caused demand for oil to explode. Other external factors increased needs and reduced production.
The highest level for 34 years!
Since the end of August, the high season has kicked off for home fuel sellers. But it’s a sluggish start. “In view of the price per liter, many customers wanted to delay the passage of our deliverers. Believing that in the coming weeks, it would drop”, notes Lionel Pinto, head of the Louda31 agency, which delivers around 40 individuals per day in the Toulouse region. A handful of the company’s customers have also terminated their contracts, preferring to heat with electricity or gas.
An increase of 20%
The vast majority of Louda 31 customers have kept the means of heating, despite a record price. The price of a liter of fuel oil has reached its highest level in 34 years, passing the symbolic bar of one euro. “In 2019, filling a 1,000-liter tank cost around 900 euros. Two years later, the figure rose to over 1,000 euros,” said Nicolas Louda, director of Louda31.
In Muretain, Nathalie * heats with fuel. Its tank has just been filled, for the second time this year. “I pay nearly 200 euros more than last year on a full tank. It’s absurd. What I have to put in the fuel, I withdraw it elsewhere,” she says.
Just like her, the customers of fuel oil dealers are re-ordering, after waiting for good news. In vain.
Business turnover is exploding, but profits remain similar to those of previous years. “To keep my customers, I lower my margins,” says Nicolas Louda. Since the start of the summer, fuel oil price inflation has been around 20%. The price of fuel “has finally stabilized”, according to the director of Louda31.
This heat stroke is further weakening a market that is badly affected by greener energies. In a few years, many resellers have ceased their activity. In 2022, a law provided for strangling the use of fuel deemed too polluting. This type of boiler should be prohibited in new housing. Finally, a decree authorizes it, thanks to biofuel, composed of 30% rapeseed.
Fuel at cost
Faced with the rise in the price of gasoline, the Leclerc group has been offering fuel at cost price in its stations since October 18. The brand has decided to extend its offer until November 14. The Casino group, too, has decided to extend its operation, which offers fuel at cost price in 100 supermarkets and 35 hypermarkets, from Thursday to Sunday. A second offer has been put in place by the group, “fuel at 1 euro per liter” in the 67 GĂ©ant Casino hypermarkets with a service station. IntermarchĂ© has also launched the operation “For difficult ends of the month, we help you save money”. Assistance that begins every Friday at the opening time of the store to which the participating station is attached, and ends on Saturday at the closing time of this store.