Oil companies face EU tax calls over Iran-linked margins

Oil companies made €36 billion in extra margins on EU petrol and diesel sales from March 1 through Oct. 19, according to a Greenpeace Germany-commissioned report published by Euronews on Nov. 5.

The estimate matters because EU governments are looking for ways to cut energy bills after the US-Iran conflict began on Feb. 28, while Greenpeace put the gain at €154.4 million a day.

Greenpeace based its calculation on the gap between crude oil prices and net fuel prices, according to the Euronews report. Diesel accounted for €28.2 billion of the additional margins, while petrol contributed almost €7.8 billion.

EU energy ministers discussed measures to reduce bills on Oct. 29, Euronews reported, but did not agree on an EU-wide tax on so-called windfall or super profits. The report said member states are calling for such a levy, while the oil industry rejects the view that it is profiting at consumers’ expense.

Noah Gordon, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, pointed to Europe’s structural exposure to fossil fuels. “Oil, gas and coal make up nearly 60% of total final energy consumption in the EU”, he said, according to Euronews.

The industry’s counterargument, as reported by Euronews, is that higher revenue reflects higher crude prices being passed through to consumers. Gordon said part of the pressure comes from limited refining capacity, saying the crack spread — the gap between crude oil and refined fuels such as diesel or petrol — “has tripled in Europe since the start of the Hormuz crisis”.

Greenpeace said crude prices did not account for all of the increase. According to the report, EU pre-tax diesel prices rose 22.7 cents a litre more than crude prices, while petrol prices rose 13.3 cents a litre more. Greenpeace said it found no significant increase in other refining, production or distribution costs.

The largest fuel markets generated the biggest aggregate margins. Germany recorded just under €6.7 billion, followed by France at €5.7 billion, Italy at almost €5.1 billion and Spain at more than €4.7 billion, according to the report.

Company earnings have also drawn attention. Euronews cited Shell third-quarter 2026 gains of $10.81 billion, above a $10.33 billion estimate and nearly double $5.43 billion in 2025; TotalEnergies adjusted net income of $9.1 billion, above an $8.3 billion estimate; and BP net income of $8.46 billion, its highest third-quarter figure since 2008.

Government price controls appear to have limited margins in some markets, according to Matteo Prina, research group leader at Eurac Research. “What mattered most was whether the government set the pump price. In countries with fixed or capped prices (Malta, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia), diesel before tax went up on average by €0.38 per litre, compared with €0.57 elsewhere”, he said.

Source: news report, Euronews, Nov. 5, 2026