Each week the price of petrol and diesel climbs, breaking records, leaving drivers with a 5.3% increase in petrol so far this year.

The average price of petrol/gasoline is 1.558 euros per litre, which is 1.3% more than last week, when it stood at 1.522 euros, sweeping aside the previous record of September 2012.

As for the average price of diesel, it stands at 1.444 euros, which is 1.34% up on last week. Again, this figure beats the previous, high-price record of September 2012.

The end of 2021 told a different story with five consecutive weeks in price drops.

The main reason behind this rise in fuel prices is the geopolitical instability caused by what is happening in Ukraine pushing the price per barrel of crude to 90 USD, not seen since 2014.

This week, a barrel of Brent, (the European reference price), stood at 92 USD whilst the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at 90 USD.

All this translates into the fact that to fill your tank will cost you 25% more than the same period last year (29% for diesel). Put another way, to fill a 55-litres tank (the average size) with gasoline will cost you 85.69 euros, which is 17.60 euros more than last year.

Yet, here in Spain our fuel costs are less than the European average per litre, so we have less to complain about than our neighbours to the north of the Pyrenees. Why? Believe it or not, we pay less tax on fuel at the pumps than the European Union average.

(News: Spain)