Italian Petrol Up 20 Percent as Europe Compares Pump Prices

Petrol prices in Italy have increased by 20 percent over the past six months, according to The Local Italy, which on Wednesday set out what drivers should expect to pay at the pump and where in the country fuel is cheapest. The same outlet published a separate comparison of fuel prices across Europe, noting that costs are rising widely but that the price of filling a tank varies sharply between countries, partly because governments have taken different measures to address the crisis.

The two items together describe a squeeze that is European rather than purely Italian. The Local Italy does not attribute the increase to a single cause, and the wire available here does not carry a national average figure for the pump price. What it does report is the direction and the scale: a fifth higher than six months ago, with wide variation by region inside Italy.