Far from Fantozzi’s “employee’s cloud,” what looms over motorists’ holidays is a perfect storm. Yesterday (July 22) Brent at 94 dollars, gasoline prices at their highest since May 21, diesel prices at their highest since April 29; at the pump “green” at 1.96 euro/liter, highest since May 28, diesel at 2.14 euro/liter, highest since April 15. Codacons adds to the burden: the average price of diesel breaks the psychological threshold of 2.2 euro/liter on the highway. Yesterday at 2.213, a historical record.
The Union of Energies for Mobility (Unem), which has brought together and represented for over 70 years the main companies operating in Italy in the processing, logistics, and distribution of petroleum products, low-carbon energy products, including biofuels and e-fuels, provides a measure of the gap: in June 2026, sales of petroleum products to the market showed substantial stability, settling at just over 4.3 million tons, with a 0.4% decrease compared to the same month in 2025 (-16,000 tons). Consumption was supported by the good performance of products destined for mobility, which collectively showed a +1.8% (+64,000 tons). Mobility was also favored by the drop in pump prices, which decreased by between 14 and 15 cents/liter during the month.
Woe to say “happy island,” rather a meager consolation, Tuscany ranks in the lower part of the classification of Italian regions by average price (source: Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy). Not exactly a merit according to Federico Valacchi, who since December 2022 has been leading the autonomous Italian federation of petrol station owners (Faib Confesercenti) for the Florence area and since September 2025 for Tuscany. «The final price at the pump is determined by the big companies (also in the differences between areas: it’s called a trading area, it has to do with the conformation of the territory and the presence of competition), we are at the mercy of the waves with our hands tied. Let’s be clear: for us, the lower it is, the greater the profit,» he prefaces, and explains: «The companies give us the purchase price and the selling price. And on the second, we pay 63 cents/liter. Plus VAT, which is 22%». A distortion according to him, the first of a long series.
«We stock up in view of the depletion of our supplies and buy, at the updated and mandatory price, what the companies have instead purchased before, when Brent is more convenient,» adds Valacchi, roughly measuring what he unequivocally calls speculation: «When excise duties were removed, within ten days-two weeks, the values of the previous period returned to the billboards». This is the second distortion, perhaps the biggest, on which «the government must keep an eye».
But there is a third, always according to him, and it is constituted by supermarkets. «Private individuals, the “white pumps,” still have a margin, but the international situation is what it is and it’s the same one that concerns us too: it’s anything but a bubble. But large-scale distribution, that’s a problem,» continues the Faib president, firing point-blank: «Supermarkets that manage distributors can afford to lower prices because they amortize by raising products on the shelf: gasoline and diesel are a lever to retain customers».
The market has changed, and so has the motorist. «Apart from the vehicle of those who work with diesel, the diesel car is slowly disappearing: it’s no longer convenient to buy one compared to a gasoline one,» notes Valacchi, who finally confesses: «Now hybrids are “in,” I bought one myself a couple of years ago».
In this context, the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, during the presentation of the Dpcm Automotive measure dedicated to the long-term social rental program for low-emission vehicles, anticipated that «if there were a need, we are ready to further increase resources with the next budget law». Meanwhile, the Tuscan deputy of Fratelli d’Italia, Fabrizio Rossi, commenting on the recent green light for the implementing decree to unlock 300 million euros destined for the tax credit for expensive diesel, commented: «Concrete answers from the government for hauliers».
For holidaying motorists, however, all that remains is the search for the most convenient distributor. The tool available is always the same: the Mimit fuel price observatory.