A double front, domestic and international, to try to stem the rise in fuel prices. The government accelerates the anti-petrol price decree while signs of direct intervention on the oil market are arriving from the United States, in a context marked by tensions linked to the war against Iran.
Italy, meanwhile, as Prime Minister Meloni confirmed on Tg1, is moving towards the much desired (by users) cut in excise duties: the decree law passed by the Council of Ministers, which met in the late afternoon today, introduces a cut of “25 cents per litre” on the price of fuel. “Let’s fight speculation and in the meantime let’s immediately lower the price”, underlined the prime minister. «We intervened today in the Council of Ministers with a decree regarding the price of fuel, the priority at the moment. We intervened with 3 measures – he explained -. In fact we cut 25 cents per
litre, we introduce a tax credit for hauliers, because we don’t want the price increase to be passed on to consumer goods, and we create an anti-speculation mechanism which effectively links the price of fuel to the real trend in the price of oil, introducing sanctions for anyone who deviates”.
In the evening, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella signed the fuel law decree. The head of state is in Salamanca in Spain to receive an honorary degree tomorrow. The text of the decree reached him upon his arrival in the Spanish city from where he signed it.
According to initial estimates, the decree against high fuel prices is worth just over half a billion euros. According to what we understand, between 500 and 600 million euros have been allocated for the cut in excise duties and for tax credits in favor of hauliers and fishing vessels.
Controls on the supply chain and possible intervention by the judiciary
Furthermore, at the center of the Italian strategy is a strengthening of controls along the entire supply and distribution chain. A still provisional draft of the decree under study provides for a special supervisory regime on “distortion phenomena” that could affect prices at the pump.
The system would involve multiple institutional levels: from Mr Prezzi to the Financial Police, up to the Antitrust for possible sanctions. In the most serious cases, the involvement of the judiciary is not excluded to verify the existence of the crime of “speculative maneuvers”.
New table with the oil companies
In the meantime, discussions with sector operators continue. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who spoke at the fuel table convened at the Prefecture of Milan with the main oil companies, announced a new meeting as early as next week.
The discussion is part of the decisions that the executive is preparing to formalize in the next few hours, with the aim of identifying shared measures to contain price increases.
The US move on oil transportation
At the same time, an intervention is coming from the United States that aims to directly impact energy logistics. The Donald Trump administration has announced a 60-day suspension of the Jones Act, the 1920 law that limits the transportation of oil within the country to ships built, owned and operated by Americans.
The decision, communicated by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, aims to contain the increase in prices linked to the conflict with Iran by temporarily expanding the possibilities for internal transportation of crude oil.
Summit with the oil industry
The White House is also preparing for a direct confrontation with the main players in the sector. Vice President J.D. Vance and other officials will meet with oil industry leaders at a meeting planned at the American Petroleum Institute, Bloomberg reported.
At the center of the summit were strategies to deal with the jump in prices and stabilize the market in a phase of strong international uncertainty.
Between regulatory interventions, strengthened controls and global maneuvers, the issue of fuels thus returns to the center of the political and economic agenda, with effects that are directly reflected on families and businesses.