According to IRU’s latest fuel market overview, the EU weighted average diesel price was down from €2.019 a week earlier — a fall of about 1.2%. IRU attributed the drop to both lower Brent prices and the simultaneous effect of fiscal relief in Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden.
Brent crude was trading around $100 a barrel on the morning of 8 May, after falling from roughly $120 a week earlier and briefly touching $96 during the week, according to IRU. Reuters reported on 8 May that both Brent and WTI had dropped below $100 for the first time since the second half of April, before Brent moved back above that level.
IRU said it was the first time since the start of the crisis that the five largest national fuel-relief packages in the EU: those in Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden had been in force at the same time.
Germany’s diesel excise cut of €0.14 per litre came into force on 1 May and is due to run until 30 June. Italy has kept its € 0.20-per-litre excise cut on diesel in place until 22 May. Poland has extended reduced VAT and minimum excise levels on motor fuels to 15 May. IRU also lists further measures in Hungary, Austria, France, Greece and Czechia.
The European Commission’s Weekly Oil Bulletin, dated 7 May, said fuel prices across the EU remained elevated following the widened conflict in the Near East and what the bulletin described as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Cheapest and most expensive diesel markets
The lowest EU diesel pump prices were in Malta, at €1.210 per litre, followed by Poland at €1.692 and Croatia at €1.724, IRU said, while the most expensive markets were the Netherlands, at €2.383 per litre, Finland at €2.316 and Denmark at €2.299.
Slovakia removed both its foreign-plate diesel surcharge and the single-tank-per-vehicle restriction on 8 May, according to IRU. The organisation described those measures as the only intra-EU dual-pricing regime introduced since the start of the crisis. International hauliers refuelling in Slovakia from that date pay the same price as domestic operators.
Brent back above $105, AdBlue remains a secondary pressure point
Reuters reported on 11 May that oil prices jumped again after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to a US peace proposal, with Brent rising above $105 a barrel. Markets are reacting to political signals around Iran, the Strait of Hormuz and prospective ceasefire talks, as well as supply and demand fundamentals.
IRU warned that AdBlue costs remained a secondary risk. Global urea prices were still above $617 per tonne, around 32% above the 27 February baseline. AdBlue accounts for less than 1% of HGV operating costs, but shortages would have serious operational consequences because modern diesel trucks cannot run legally without it.
