The oil market moved sharply in July. Brent crude, the benchmark for Europe, reached $86.99 a barrel on 20 July 2026, up +25.1% from two weeks earlier and +8.1% from a month ago.
Crude is the single largest component in the cost of a litre of fuel, so a move this large shows up, with a lag, at the pump.
How much of the crude spike reaches the pump
Across the European Union, petrol now averages 1.88 €/L and diesel 1.97 €/L (prices with taxes, European Commission Weekly Oil Bulletin). Unlike the Brent quote, which changes every day, the pump price reacts more slowly: refining, distribution, inventories and, above all, the fixed per-litre taxes absorb part of the jump.
On the homepage chart we added the Brent line, in dollars per barrel, over the European fuel average, so you can see directly how tightly the two move together.
Where a litre goes furthest today
Computed from the live prices Petromap tracks at more than 90,000 stations:
| Country | Gasoline (€/L) | Diesel (€/L) |
|---|---|---|
| 🇲🇩 Moldova | 1.48 (29.65 MDL) | 1.47 (29.44 MDL) |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 1.64 | 1.71 |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary | 1.64 (597.66 HUF) | 1.70 (618.04 HUF) |
| 🇷🇴 Romania | 1.70 (8.93 RON) | 1.86 (9.74 RON) |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia | 1.74 | 1.97 |
| 🇦🇹 Austria | 1.86 | 2.00 |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 2.00 | 2.17 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 2.16 | 2.16 |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark | 2.25 (16.80 DKK) | 2.29 (17.12 DKK) |
Cheapest price per fuel in bold. Live averages in €/L; non-euro countries also shown in local currency.
At the expensive end of the table, a 55-litre tank of petrol costs roughly 33.51 € more in Denmark than in Spain, the cheapest euro-area country. Romania sits below the EU average on both fuels, at 1.70 €/L for petrol and 1.86 €/L for diesel.
Why timing matters
When oil rises quickly, the gap between the Brent quote and the posted price works in the driver's favour: a few days in which the pump has not yet passed on the full increase. When Brent falls, the same gap works the other way. That is why it pays to compare before you fill up, not after.
Check your own route
Every figure in this article is computed from the live prices Petromap tracks across 18 European countries and updates automatically: you see today's prices, not last month's. Open the live map for prices along your route, or the country pages for Romania, Germany and Spain. Developers can pull the same data from our free API.
Sources: Brent price, FRED / U.S. Energy Information Administration (series DCOILBRENTEU); fuel prices, European Commission (Weekly Oil Bulletin) and Petromap live prices.