Gas prices up for sixth month in a row in Italy

[unhappycamper]

At the pumps, the price for diesel seems on par with the price for unleaded, but Americans serving in Italy have grumbled that through the coupon program, the cost is much higher for diesel than unleaded. Starting on Friday, the August price for diesel will be 91 cents higher per gallon than for unleaded. The reason, a Navy official explained, is because in Italy, the tax for diesel is less than for unleaded, but the production cost is higher. Coupon users don't pay the tax, but they do pay for the higher production cost.


Gas prices up for sixth month in a row in Italy
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Friday, August 1, 2008

NAPLES, Italy - For the sixth month in a row, gas coupon prices across Italy have gone up. As of Friday, customers are paying $131 for a 100-liter booklet for unleaded gasoline and $155 for diesel, a Navy official said.

The price increase is spurred by the rising cost in barrel prices and the dismal U.S. dollar-to-euro exchange rate, said Bart Di Muccio, administrator for the Tax-Free Office, which runs the fuel coupon program.

The August coupon prices translate to $4.95 a gallon for unleaded and $5.86 a gallon for diesel costs that outpace pump prices in the United States. In the last week of July, gas in the States was $3.90 a gallon for unleaded and $4.60 for diesel, according to the Department of Energy.

The Navy's Tax-Free Office in Italy negotiates fuel purchase contracts in euros, Di Muccio said, a factor that contributes to the higher prices that servicemembers in Italy pay when compared to other parts of Europe. In Germany, for example, the cost for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $4.16, and diesel is $5.09.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which manages the fuel program in Germany and most other European countries where military bases are located, sets its prices weekly by adding the cost of running the program to the average U.S. price for fuel. It does not factor in the actual purchase cost of fuel overseas, which also is done in euros, said Lt. Col. David Konop, AAFES spokesman.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56490

[Ricky_U]

1. What???

What the hell does this article have to do with Veterans?