Excise clearances of marked gas oil (green diesel) in February 2024 were the lowest clearances recorded for February since 2017, figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have revealed.
According to statistics from the CSO, clearance volumes of marked gas oil were 80 million litres in February 2024, compared to 93 million litres in the same month of 2023.
Clearances in February 2024 were 14% lower than February 2023, and this decrease followed a 10% increase between January 2023 and January 2024.
Excise clearances refer to amounts of oil on which duty has been paid that are removed from tax warehouses.
Clearance data provide a proxy for sales and the associated level of consumption, but do not necessarily reflect actual consumption.
Excise clearances of unleaded petrol in February 2024, were at 79 million litres, and were 5% higher than the February 2023 figure of 75 million litres.
Deirdre Moran, statistician at the CSO said: “After a long period of decline in clearances of unleaded petrol from 2007, there has been a gradual recovery in 2022-2024 to 2019 levels.
Clearances of autodiesel in February 2024, at 281m litres, were 2% lower than the February 2023 figure of 285m litres.
Clearances of kerosene in February 2024 were 7% lower compared with February 2023. This was the lowest kerosene clearances recorded for February since 2012.
As part of Budget 2024, Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath announced that temporary excise rate reductions – which had been introduced in 2022 in response to higher fuel prices caused by the war in Ukraine – would end on March 31, 2024.
From Monday of last week (April 1), increase of 4c/L on petrol, 3c/L on diesel and 1.5c/L on marked gas oil (green diesel) came into effect.
Last month, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar ruled out postponing these increases, despite calls to do so.