Article · Energy · Money and markets
France will sell a fifth of its strategic diesel at 28 cents a litre. In Lithuania a litre costs €2.24
On 12 October 2026, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that diesel at French stations will get cheaper from 1 November, because the state will sell 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic stocks to distributors at cost over three months. According to his office, that diesel was bought at €0.28 a litre, against a market price of about €1.10 now. The government is aiming for 12 to 18 cents less per litre. The volume is about a fifth of France's strategic diesel and about a fifth of the country's diesel consumption over three months. In Lithuania, diesel averaged €2.241 a litre in the week of 5 October, more than the EU average of €2.149, and from early 2027 a carbon excise component there could, according to LRT, add about 9 cents more.
France will sell a fifth of its strategic diesel to fuel distributors at the price it paid: €0.28 a litre, when the market price, according to the prime minister's office, is about €1.10.
Until now, French strategic stocks were usually lent to companies for a short time. This time the state is selling them below market price so that diesel gets cheaper at the pump. It matters to a driver in Lithuania for two reasons: diesel in Lithuania costs more than the EU average, and the Lithuanian state holds the same kind of mandatory stocks, only uses them differently.