Diesel demand in Germany, France and the UK is expected to rise 2.2% in 2007 to 20,676,000 mt, according to International Energy Agency data analysed by Platts, as Europe trends towards diesel powered transportation.
Europe has been moving towards a majority diesel fleet since the European Commission encouraged lower taxes on diesel fuel to encourage its spread at the pump.
The agency estimates that France, the largest consumer of diesel in Europe, will have 7,834,000 mt of demand in 2007 averaging 652.8kt per month which is a 1.1% increase from the previous year.
Germany, the second largest consumer will have 7,521,000 mt of demand in 2007 averaging 626.7kt a month, a 3.4% build from 2006 and the UK will have 5,321,000 mt of demand in 2007, up 2.38% from 2006.
Europe has been moving towards a majority diesel fleet since the European Commission encouraged lower taxes on diesel fuel to encourage its spread at the pump.
This is because diesel engines are more fuel efficient and therefore more economical burning less CO2.
The lighter tax burden has kept diesel prices below gasoline across much of Europe for a number of years, except in the UK, making diesel cars more economical with cheaper running costs proving popular amongst consumers.
As a result, diesel demand into France, Germany and the UK has risen 23.9% from 16,684,000 mt per year in 2000 to 20,676,000 mt this year which equates to approximately 1000 cargoes of diesel.
At the same time, gasoline demand has declined as a higher percentage of new cars being sold are diesel cars.
Diesel cars are cheaper to run and as a result of advances in diesel engine technology amongst manufacturers, they are cleaner and quieter than they used to be.
Data provided by PSA, the collective Peugeot and Citroën brand, shows that the percentage of the European fleet [18 EU countries including France, Germany and the UK] of new car registrations has risen from 22.3% in 1997 to 50.8% in 2006.
It is the first time that more diesel powered cars were sold than gasoline powered cars.
The country with the highest percentage of diesel cars is France with 71.4% of new cars registered in 2006 diesel totaling 1,427,698 units.
Next page: The growth of diesel in Europe
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