The cost of crude has dropped by more than 50 percent and is currently at a six-and-a-half year low.
But Portugal’s petrol price has remained one of the costliest in Europe, with unleaded fuel dropping by a mere four percent in the past year, while diesel is now ten percent cheaper than it was last summer.
According to the Portuguese Association of Fuel Companies (Apetro) the fact that these savings have not been passed on to consumers is largely due to the high taxes levied on fuel at the pumps along with the fixed costs that fuel stations have to absorb.
Currently, 61 percent of the cost of a litre of unleaded fuel is paid over to the taxman, while half of the cost of diesel is channelled to the state’s coffers.
Fuel companies allocate a further 11 percent of the cost of fuel towards storage costs, which according to Apetro, leaves petrol stations with little room for manoeuvre - even as the price of oil continues its downward spiral.
In comments to newspaper i, Apetro Chairman João Reis explains that with the cost of unleaded fuel this week standing at €1.476 a litre, the mark-up after taxes and costs is 27 percent, which he argues allows for only small, but nonetheless regular reductions.
Similarly, oil prices are quoted in dollars. Fluctuations in the exchange rate, especially with a weaker euro, have seen motorists in Portugal unable to experience savings like those in the United States, where a litre of unleaded can now cost as little 55 cents.
Closer to home, Spanish motorists have meanwhile seen their travel costs experience a far greater drop than for their western neighbours.
While the cost per litre before taxes are almost the same either side of the border (varying from between 53 and 58 cents), unleaded fuel in Spain currently costs €1.25 a litre, 22 cents less than the average cost here.
The difference in diesel is not as pronounced, with reference costs revealing this fuel is 8 cents a litre cheaper in Spain at €1.09, though some low-cost fuel stations are now quoting double-digit prices.
According to latest figures from the European Commission, the price of unleaded fuel before taxes in Portugal is the fifth highest among the European Union’s 28 member states, while diesel is the ninth costliest.
However, and despite Portuguese motorists failing to reap the full benefits of the low oil prices, forecasts are that the price of unleaded fuel and diesel is set to drop again in the coming days, with savings of between one and two cents a litre expected to come into force on Monday morning.