Drivers likely to face higher diesel prices on Tuesday

Drivers in Slovenia will probably pay more for fuel on Tuesday. Finance calculated that diesel could rise by about 14 cents per liter, reaching a new record of approximately 1.95 euros, if the government does not change the formula used to set prices.

The price of 95-octane gasoline could increase by around five cents to about 1.67 euros per liter at filling stations outside motorways and expressways. Heating oil could become roughly 13 cents more expensive, reaching 1.55 euros per liter.

Brent crude ended Friday trading at 96.28 dollars per 159-liter barrel, up 7.6 percent from the previous week. Finance said movements in crude prices explain only part of the expected diesel increase. The bigger pressure comes from the market for middle distillates, which includes diesel, heating oil and jet fuel.

Finance cited the Financial Times as reporting that southern Europe’s wholesale diesel price had reached its widest-ever gap against crude oil prices. Supply has been constrained by several factors, including Russia’s extension of its diesel export ban through the end of September after Ukrainian attacks on its refineries. Supplies of oil products from the Middle East remain disrupted, while Asian refineries are exporting less fuel than usual.

The government has also approved a draft amendment that would cut the excise duty on extra-light heating oil from 157.50 euros to 42 euros per 1,000 liters. The measure would allow the government to reduce the duty by decree to 21 euros per 1,000 liters, the current EU minimum under the relevant directive. Finance’s heating-oil estimate did not take that possible excise reduction into account.