Fuel value surge in Italy, SOCAR steps in: value cap on IP community
SOCAR is introducing a cap on petrol and diesel costs throughout the Italiana Petroli (IP) community. The Azerbaijani state vitality firm, which took management of the Italian group final May, has determined to deal with hovering gasoline prices by setting a restrict on the costs charged by filling stations.
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The mechanism will probably be rolled out steadily, beginning with the IP-branded community. SOCAR has not but specified what the utmost value on the pump will probably be: in a press release launched on Sunday it explains that the extent of the cap will probably be set making an allowance for totally different wants and the economic sustainability of the supply chain.
The firm additionally plans to discover methods to lengthen the mechanism to Esso-branded stations and to different operators that buy gasoline from IP and distribute it underneath their very own manufacturers.
Pressure on costs and firm motion
SOCAR’s measure comes towards a backdrop of extreme tensions over pump costs. The Ministry for Business and Made in Italy (MIMIT) publishes nationwide averages every single day, whereas the costs truly charged by particular person filling stations are collected by the Fuel Prices Observatory.
The situation issues diesel particularly, whose value has continued to be affected by tensions on vitality bourses and disruption alongside provide chains.
SOCAR isn’t the one main firm to have introduced motion on costs: ENI has additionally launched a price-cap mechanism by itself community, in a context through which the federal government has requested operators to assist restrict the influence of excessive gasoline prices on households and companies.
What makes SOCAR’s transfer totally different is that it comes just some months after the acquisition of IP and due to this fact additionally marks one of many first indicators of the Azerbaijani group’s new technique within the Italian market.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has welcomed SOCAR’s choice to introduce a value ceiling, recalling that he had requested the corporate to intervene on costs at the start of September.
SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state oil firm
SOCAR is the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the nation’s state-owned oil agency. The group operates throughout a number of phases of the vitality chain, from oil and gasoline manufacturing to refining, logistics and advertising.
Its presence in Italy was strengthened in 2026 with the acquisition of Italiana Petroli, the group that owns the IP community. The deal was finalised on 8 May, when SOCAR purchased 99.82 per cent of IP’s share capital from API Holding.
IP has a widespread presence throughout Italian territory and operates an built-in system that features refining, storage and distribution actions. SOCAR’s entry has due to this fact introduced one in every of Italy’s major gasoline retail networks underneath the Azerbaijani group’s management.
Fuel costs on 27 September
The announcement from the Azerbaijani firm comes as gasoline costs stay at excessive ranges. According to the newest figures from the Fuel Prices Observatory of the Ministry for Business and Made in Italy (MIMIT), immediately, Sunday 27 September, the nationwide common value in self-service mode on the highway community is 2.159 euros per litre for petrol and a couple of.377 euros for diesel.
On the motorway community the common rises to 2.254 euros per litre for petrol and a couple of.459 euros for diesel. MIMIT calculates the nationwide averages on the idea of costs reported by retailers and updates the info each day.
The determine for diesel is especially putting: on the motorway community the common value is now approaching 2.50 euros per litre.
The value cap will begin on the IP community
The new mechanism introduced by SOCAR will initially be utilized to IP-branded filling stations. The firm says it desires to help operators and community managers, in different phrases those that run the websites, whereas making an allowance for the necessity to maintain the whole provide chain in steadiness.
The Azerbaijani firm explains that the utmost value will probably be set in keeping with totally different wants, with the acknowledged goal of making certain the continuity of the availability chain and supporting households and companies at a time of notably excessive costs.
The firm will then look at the best way to lengthen the system to Esso stations and to different operators that supply gasoline from IP. Any extension may due to this fact cowl a broader community than the websites immediately linked to the IP model.
SOCAR and its relationship with Italy
The intervention on gasoline costs additionally comes as SOCAR strengthens its ties with Italy past the vitality sector.
The Azerbaijani firm has in truth formalised a strategic partnership with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
The choice to introduce a cap on petrol and diesel costs throughout the Italiana Petroli community “confirms SOCAR’s closeness to Italy, at a time when the Azerbaijani firm is formalising a strategic partnership with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), changing into the worldwide vitality accomplice of the lads’s and ladies’s nationwide soccer groups from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030, with the potential for an extension for an additional two years”, the corporate mentioned in a press release.
