The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has economic effects that are being felt. Add to this the strikes and blockages of refineries because of the pension reform in France. And we find ourselves in a situation of shortage which has worsened in recent days in service stations. Here are some tools to help you find it.
On Frandroid, we are very interested in electric cars. It is clear that this type of engine remains a minority for the moment, and gasoline and diesel are more expensive than ever. And everything seems to indicate that this rise will continue.
Gasoline and diesel prices are rising. If we look at the weekly report published by the European Commission, we see that these are the highest prices ever recorded in our country.
Why are fuel prices rising?
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is obviously the main reason. Russia is in the process of invading Ukraine, the offensive has been going on for more than a week on several cities in Ukraine, notably in Kharkiv, with the dispatch of airborne troops and numerous bombardments.
Before this major crisis, Russia exported about 5 million barrels of crude oil per day and another 3 million barrels already refined. Today, these barrels no longer find takers because of the sanctions imposed by Europe.
Soaring oil prices are inescapable, the dice are already cast: whether it is because governments act directly or through self-sanction by Western companies, Russia’s oil and gas supplies will dry up. This will have serious consequences for Russia, but it will also add to cost of living pressures at home.
Where are the current shortages coming from?
In March 2023, major shortages affected gas stations in France. The current shortage is linked to a strike in refineries linked to the pension reform in France.
Some savings through apps
Our advice is obviously to encourage travel by public transport, by bike… but obviously, it depends on each person’s situation. There are applications that will allow you to save some money and optimize your trips.
First, we advise you to check the options that are available for your trips. For this, there is the Transit application and Citymapper which work very well in the city. Otherwise, there is obviously Google Maps.
We also have a few apps for you to try out before telling you about price comparisons: BlaBlaLines for carpooling or Weather Sky before getting out your bike.
Fuel price comparators
Gasoline / Gasoil Now is a comparator that uses published public data, the application works in France, Spain or Italy. Its use is very simple: it locates you and lists the nearest stations, you can compare the prices of different fuels (B7, B7+, Diesel, Diesel, Diesel, Diesel+, E5 – Unleaded 95 (SP95), Unleaded 98 (SP98), SP95-E10 (E10), GPLc (LPG), Ethanol, Bioethanol, Superethanol E85).
You can thus check the availability of the fuels you are looking for.
There is also Essence&CO which is an alternative to Essence / Gasoil Now, with a strong community that allows you to retrieve valuable information in the field.
Finally, Waze also allows you to locate petrol stations, but also to know their prices, which are regularly updated by the large community of users. This application can also help you optimize your journeys by car.
Gasoline Fuel Comparator
In the event of a fuel shortage, the hardest part is ultimately not finding the gas station with the lowest price, but the one that still has full pumps. This is where Gasoline Comparator Fuel finds its interest, with a map of the supply of gas stations. We agree: this card is absent from the application, it is only available online. The application simply allows you to report which stations are affected by the shortage by replacing the price of the fuel concerned with 0.
The application itself allows you to find out where the closest or cheapest gas stations are located and to launch a route to the one that has been selected. Be careful though, the application and the website have tended to row severely in recent days with the worsening of the shortage.
At the time of writing these lines, 416 stations are in a state of partial shortage and 577 in total shortage. The majority are located in the Paris region.
If you have any tips or applications, you can share them in the comments.
Our colleagues from Numerama are launching Watt Else, their newsletter dedicated to the mobility of the future. Sign up here to make sure you receive the next issue!