Diesel reached a record high in Portugal on Monday , at €2,169 per liter, triggering protests on the country's roads. Gasoline prices, meanwhile, have returned to their highest levels since the 2022 energy crisis.
A cacophony of car horns on the 25th of April Bridge, which connects Lisbon to Almada on the south bank of the Tagus River, marked the beginning of a day of protests. Further south, a slow-moving convoy was simultaneously being organized towards the Galp refinery in Sines, in the Setúbal district. Coordinated via WhatsApp and social media, the demonstration continued past the midday break with no end date announced. The National Republican Gendarmerie (GNR) estimated the number of participants at between 60 and 100 vehicles, some of which displayed Portuguese flags on their hoods. Signs demanded "Stop the fuel price hikes" and declared that "families can't take it anymore."
According to forecasts from the Automobile Club of Portugal (ACP), diesel jumped 15 cents on Monday to reach €2,169 per liter, while gasoline rose 12 cents to €2,142. These figures already include an exceptional reduction in the tax on petroleum products (ISP) decided by the government; without this reduction, the increase would have been 12 and 9 cents respectively. Diesel has thus reached its highest level ever recorded in the country, while gasoline prices have returned to the levels seen during the energy crisis triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Portugal occupies an uncomfortable position in Europe. The website fuel-prices, which aggregates data from 21 countries on the continent, ranked the country 19th on Monday among those with the most expensive gasoline, ahead of only France and Denmark . For diesel, the ranking improved slightly to 17th place, behind countries including the United Kingdom , Italy, and France.
The situation is not unique to Portugal. In Germany , the Frankfurter Allgemeine reports that prices have also reached a historic high, with gasoline exceeding the record of €2,203 per liter set in March 2022. The widespread increase in Europe is linked to the conflict in the Middle East and the disruptions to trade routes in the Strait of Hormuz. Experts also point to limited refining capacity, even when crude oil is available, a constraint that particularly affects diesel.
Faced with public discontent, the Portuguese Minister of the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, commissioned a study from the Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos (ERSE). Published in mid-August, the study found "no evidence of exploitation of the situation by operators" and ruled out any phenomenon of rapidly rising and slowly falling prices. ERSE also attributes the price difference with Spain to taxation, while specifying that the Portuguese tax burden has remained constant, "in line with the majority of European Union countries ."
On the political front, six European countries are taking the offensive. According to AFP, the finance ministers of Portugal, Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, and Spain have sent a joint letter to the Irish finance minister requesting that a one-off tax on oil company profits be put on the agenda. The EU finance ministers' meeting is scheduled for September 18 and 19 in Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Union.
