In December, Italian oil consumption amounted to just over 4.8 million tonnes, down by 3.3% (-167,000 tonnes) compared to December 2021. A result, explains Unem, overall lower than expected and on which 2 fewer working days weighed, the slowdown of industrial activities, the contraction of the petrochemical load and partly the good climatic conditions which affected the consumption of products for heating. Furthermore, the consumption of automotive fuels (petrol and diesel) amounted to approximately 2.6 million tonnes, of which 0.7 million petrol and 1.9 million diesel, with a decrease of 3.6% compared to the same month of 2021 (-97,000 tons), on which the effects of the 2 working days less are fully discharged.
Gasoline increase
Moving on to the trends of individual products, last December total petrol showed an increase of 4% (+26,000 tonnes) compared to December 2021. A practically similar trend for petrol sold on the network (+4.2%). Both were significantly up (+9.8% in total and +10% in the network) also compared to December 2019. This derives from the prevalence of petrol engines in new registrations, especially in hybrid versions, and the lower use of methane in biofuel vehicles.
After the increase of the previous month, diesel for motor vehicles returned to an overall decrease of 5.9% compared to December 2021 (-123,000 tonnes). Heavier contraction on wholesale diesel, which recorded a drop of 10%, and more moderate on the network, with a decrease of 2.5%, reflecting the marked slowdown in freight transport following the contingent decline in industrial activities.
The price of petrol: the map in real time
Aviation fuel +36%
Aviation fuel recorded an increase of 36.4% compared to December 2021, confirming the trend of recovery in both passenger and freight traffic highlighted by ENAC. Military uses are also growing, contributing about half of the total increase. However, overall consumption is still 16.6% lower (-59,000 tons) compared to December 2019.