2018 at Irish pumpsPetrol back near €1.50 by midsummer.

The year 2018 began with petrol at €1.389 and closed at €1.399; over its 50 weekly readings the average was €1.438, while diesel averaged €1.341. Over the twelve months petrol drifted 1.0 cent higher, first reading to last. Year on year, measured against the 2017 averages, petrol came in +7.4 cent and diesel +9.8 cent.

At its cheapest, on 19 Mar, petrol cost €1.359; at its dearest, on 25 Jun, €1.499, a range of 14.0 cent within twelve months. Set side by side, the yearly averages show diesel at 9.7 cent a litre cheaper than petrol. About 61.0% of the average petrol price that year went in tax, near enough 87.7 cent per litre. On the marked gas oil side, the average was €0.726 and the range €0.650 to €0.819.

A motorist filling up in March paid €1.371 a litre on average for petrol, against €1.499 in November, the dearest month.

Of the weekly moves in petrol, 16 were rises, 16 were falls and 18 left the price unchanged.

Europe-wide, petrol averaged €1.427 in 2018; Ireland sat 1.1 cent higher relative to that.

Duty stayed put through 2018: €587.71 per 1,000 litres of petrol and €479.02 on diesel, so the year's swings belong entirely to crude, refining and retail.

According to the CSO's monthly collection, petrol went from €1.377 to €1.427 between January and December.

The years around it, fuel prices in 2017 and what a litre cost in 2019, follow the same layout.

Back to the index of years: the weekly archive since 2005.