Green diesel excise clearances down 3% in Q1 2026 - CSO
Excise clearances of marked gas oil, also known as green diesel, decreased by 3% in the first three months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
That is according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which has published its report on fuel excise clearances for March 2026.
Clearances for green diesel stood at 85 million litres in January 2026, 83 million litres in February 2026 and 103 million litres in March 2026.
In January and February 2025, clearances for green diesel were 88 million litres each month. While in March 2025, clearances of green diesel were recorded at 104 million litres.
Green diesel
The data also shows that autodiesel clearances were 2.1% lower in January to March 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.
Unleaded petrol clearances were 7.2% higher in Q1 2026 compared with January to March 2025.
Unleaded petrol clearances for the first three months of 2026 at 274 million litres were the highest for the first quarter of the year since 2017.
In contrast, autodiesel clearances for the first quarter of 2026 at 808 million litres were the lowest for the January to March period since 2021.
Green diesel clearances were 0.6% lower when comparing the 12-month rolling period of April 2025-March 2026 with April 2024-March 2025.
Clearances of kerosene, mainly used for home heating oil, for March 2026 were the lowest clearances for March since 2012.
CSO
Dr. Robert Stapleton, statistician in the CSO's climate and energy division, explained that "clearances are the duty paid on the quantity of oil removed from bonded warehouses and provide a proxy for sales".
"Autodiesel clearances were 2.6% lower when comparing the 12-month rolling period of April 2025-March 2026 with April 2024-March 2025.
This equates to 3.39 billion litres of autodiesel clearances in the 12 months to March 2026.
"Marked gas oil clearances were down 0.6% over the same period and down 3% in the first three months of the year," he said.
Dr Stapleton added: "In January to March 2026 Unleaded Petrol clearances increased by 7.2% compared with the same period in 2025.
"Unleaded petrol clearances have risen by 6.9% when comparing the 12-month rolling period of April 2025-March 2026 with April 2024-March 2025.
"This equates to 1.14 billion litres of unleaded petrol clearances in the 12 months to March 2026.
"Kerosene excise clearances were 0.7% higher when comparing the 12-month rolling period of April 2025-March 2026 with April 2024-March 2025".
