Cepsa raises petrol prices

Cepsa, the second biggest petrol company operating in Spain, put its prices up by 0.01 and 0.02 euros at midnight. Petrol and diesel at its petrol stations now cost between 0.68 and 0.85 euros a litre. This is the first increase announced this year after the January increase caused by the introduction of the tax on fuel. Lead-free 95-octane petrol now costs between 0.78 and 0.79 euros, 98 octane between 0.84 and 0.85 euros and super between 0.83 and 0.84 euros. Diesel costs between 0.68 and 0.69 euros. The company attributed the increase to the strength of the dollar and an increase in the price of crude oil, which has gone up by $2 a barrel in the past week. Last year, Cepsa refined 19.4 million tons of oil products. Its report on last year's performance indicated a growth of 22 per cent over the previous year.