Around 7.23 million tonnes of fuel were consumed in Austria last year, continuing the long-standing decline in fuel consumption, according to market estimates from the Federation of Austrian Mineral Oil Industry (FVMI).

The total volume of fuel consumed was approximately 8.8 billion litres, 300 million litres less than the previous year. Of this, 2.2 billion litres were petrol and 6.58 billion litres were diesel, the FVMI reported.

Diesel consumption fell by 4.5% to 5.56 million tonnes, while petrol consumption rose by 1.8% to 1.66 million tonnes. In contrast, heating oil consumption saw a significant drop, falling by 22.1% to roughly 631,000 tonnes. This decline in heating oil usage is largely attributed to technical improvements and the shift to alternative heating systems.

Despite the rising CO2 price, fuel prices remained stable last year. The CO2 price per tonne was set at €45, which led to an increase of 12.7 cents per litre for petrol and 14.2 cents per litre for diesel. This year, the CO2 price will rise to €55 per tonne.

“Overall, as an industry, we face the challenge of achieving the transformation to a climate-neutral energy system by 2050, or even 2040,” said FVMI Managing Director Hedwig Doloszeski. “However, it is the responsibility of politics not only to set goals but also to create the framework conditions that enable their implementation.”