Discounted petrol and diesel at half of Italy’s petrol stations: Q8 has also agreed, following Eni and Ip

The Italian government’s appeal has also persuaded Q8. In a statement, the Kuwaiti oil company has announced that it will impose a price cap on petrol and diesel at its network of petrol stations in Italy. This involves around 2,900 service stations. Together with those of Eni and IP, which announced the same move in recent days, there will be around 10,000 petrol stations across the country charging below market price – almost half of the entire Italian road and motorway network.

"I would like to thank Kuwait and the group that controls the Q8 petrol stations in Italy for responding to the Italian government’s appeal to energy companies to cap fuel prices. Following the decision by Eni and Socar, today Q8 has sent another important signal of its commitment to Italian households," commented Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Already yesterday evening, Palazzo Chigi had indicated that negotiations with the group were at an advanced stage and close to being finalised. The price cap, the company states, will last for 30 days from 1 October. “The price cap will be applied using a modular approach, consistent with the different circumstances within the company’s distribution network. Q8 Italia will provide appropriate support to operators and partners to ensure the economic sustainability of the entire supply chain,” the statement reads.

The government’s satisfaction is also reflected in the words of Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, who wrote on social media: “Yet another result stemming from our political and diplomatic efforts. The Government continues to work to resolve the real problems faced by citizens.”

The discount will be rolled out to petrol stations gradually, as was the case with IP. According to figures from Staffetta Quotidiana, by yesterday afternoon over 90 per cent of Eni/Enilive-branded petrol stations had adjusted their prices to the ‘cap’ of 1.99 euros per litre for petrol and 2.19 euros per litre for diesel. For IP, there were around 600 outlets with prices capped at the same level yesterday, with the prospect of this figure rising to 2,000 within a couple of days. Just under a fifth of outlets in the Italian fuel network therefore currently have a price ‘cap’: over 4,100 stations out of a total of just under 22,000. This number is set to rise in the coming days. 

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry’s figures, this morning the average price of self-service fuel across the national road network stands at 2.126 euros per litre for petrol and 2.335 euros per litre for diesel.