Italian petrol prices rocket to a record EUR 1.30 per litre

August 31, 2005

The price of petrol (gasoline) continues to rise in Italy. Today, a singlelitre (0.22 US gallons) of unleaded fuel (called green petrol in Italy) has reached EUR 1.295 (USD 5.98 per gallon; CAD 1.91 per litre; prices in Canada vary from CAD 1.03 to 1.31).

There is constant speculation on the recent price rises, however much of this is the rise in oil prices which has reached USD 68.28 per barrel (1 barrel = 158.97 litres) of US crude. This has been helped by major market speculation, the war in Iraq, the recent hurricane in Louisiana (by stopping production in a major refinery) and the strengthening of the American dollar against the Euro.