Excise clearances of marked gas oil, also known as green diesel, decreased by 1.5% over the first eight months of 2026 compared with last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The report on fuel excise clearances for August shows green diesel clearances for August 2026 stood at 86 million litres.

The CSO noted that this was the lowest August clearances for green diesel since August 2014.

Clearances are the duty paid on the quantity of oil removed from bonded warehouses and provide a proxy for sales.

Green diesel

Commenting on the data, Dr. Robert Stapleton, statistician in the CSO's Climate and Energy Division, said:

"Marked gas oil clearances decreased by 1% in the 12-month rolling period of September 2025 to August 2026 compared with September 2024 to August 2025, a reduction of six million litres in marked gas oil clearances."

Meanwhile, there were 271 million litres of autodiesel clearances in August 2026, the lowest volume of autodiesel clearances for the month since 2015.

There were 101 million litres of unleaded petrol clearances in August 2026, which was the highest level since 2017.

Clearances for kerosene, mainly used as a home heating fuel, in the 12-month rolling period of September 2025 to August 2026 were more or less unchanged when compared with the same period last year.

"Autodiesel clearances were 2% lower in the 12-month rolling period of September 2025 to August 2026 compared with September 2024 to August 2025.

"This is equivalent to a decrease of 74 million litres in autodiesel clearances in the last 12 months," Stapleton said.

"Unleaded petrol clearances have increased by 6% in the first eight months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

"Comparing the year to August 2026 with previous years, this is the sixth year in a row that has seen year-on-year increases in unleaded petrol clearances.

"Kerosene clearances were 6% lower in the first eight months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

"This equates to a decrease of 30 million litres in Kerosene clearances over this period," he added.