ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (78)416
Vol.1978/0160

Disclaimer
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COMMISSION OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(78)416 final
Brussels ,8September 1978
REPORT
bythe Commission tothe Parliament andtothe Council upon
theapplication ofCouncil Directive of4th May 1976 regarding
aCommunity procedure forinformation andconsultation onthe
prices ofcrude oil andpetroleum products inthe Community
C0PK78 )416final .\A'-,
•y*. v.^A
1
..-'C /
\
.V,'..;V-•

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM :' ,■
*
TheCounciloftheEuropeanCommunities adopted ,on4thMay1976
Directive(EEC)No.76/491regardingaCommunityprocedurefor'
information andconsultation onthepricesofcrudeoiland
petroleumproduct0intheCommunity.VJithinthelimitsfixed
"bytheDirective,theCommission .adoptedimplementing procedures
andthememberstatesput,intopracticethelegislativeregulatory
andadministrative measuresnecessarytocomplywiththo:Directive
frod1stJanuary1977•.
1
InaccordancewithArticle9ofthisDirectivetheCommission -roust
presenttotheParliamentandtotheCouncil,foreachofthethree
firstyearsfollowing'1stJanuary1977»areportupontheresults
ofimplementing theDirective.
Theattachedreport "bytheCommissionconcernstheresultsobtained
forthefirstyearofapplication oftheDirective.

COMMISSION
DES
COMMUNAUTES EUROPEENNES
Analysisofthetrendincrudeoilandpetroleumproduct
pricesintheComamnityin1977
. \
'Article9oftheCouncilDirectiveNo.7o/49l/SECof4May1976stipulates
thattheCommissionshallsubmittotheCounoilandtotheEuropean
Parliamentareportohtheresultsoftheimplementation ofthis
• »-
Directive.

Analvsisofthetrendincrude ,oilandpetroleumproduct..
1pricesintheCommumtyxn1917
1tCouncilDirectiveNo.76/491/EECintroduced,with.effectfrom1January1977,
aCommunityprocedureforinformationandconsultation onthepricesofcrude
oilandpetroleumproductsintheCommunity. ,
Thisinformationis'communicatedquarterlytotheMemberStates "bythe
Commissiononthe"basisofinformationsuppliedtothembyindividual
undertakings . . ■
Theinformation relatesxoi ■
'-fobandcifpricesofimportedcrudeandpetroleumproducts;
~consumerpricesforeachoftheprincipalpetroleumproducts,'bothnet
ofandinclusiveofdutyandtaxj . ."•
~the.estimatedaverage ..ex-refineryreturnsi,e.-,therevenueobtained
"bycompaniesfromthesaleofproducts ^lessdistribution ,costs..
TheDirectivestipulates -thattheinformationmustcoveratleast*65$
,ofthetotalquantityofimported .crudeoil,735°ofimportedpeiroleuia
productsand'JCf/oofproducts 'disposed'ofonthedomestic,market.The
informationobtainedthusreflectsanaveragesituationrepresentative ofthe
keyactivities ontheCommunityoilmarket.
2.Thisreportanalysestheconsolidated informationfor1977,collected
pursuanttothisDirective,onthepricesofcrudeOilandpetroleum
products,consumerpricesandtheirtrendsfromonequartertoanother..
Crudeoilt>ricos
Iι..·Α
'3.InDecember197°-inDoha,theOPECoil-producing statesdecidedtoincrease
byeope5f°thapriceofcrudeoilfromSaudiArabiaandtheArabEmirates,
witheffectfrom1January19773oilfrosiotherproduoingcountrieswould
.-rise'i»price -by10$.
»/•
(1InformationobtainedpursuanttotheCouncilDirective jKo7^/491/KECof
4May.1976-0JL140of28.5.1976,p.4. '
Thedataconcexmingconsumerprices ,cox-respondtotheaverageprices
prevailingineach"Member8ta.te„Thesedatamaydifferfromthosecol­
lectedandpublishedbytheStatisticalOfficeoftheEuropeanCommu­nitieswhichrelatetoparticularzonesanddefinition.

InJuly 1977 inStockholm ,Saudi Arabia andtheArab Emirates increased
•theprico oftheir crude oilby5$whereas anumber ofAfrican countries
(Libya ,Algeria ,Nigeria )'increased their prices bybetween 2?oand2,20fo .
These nowincreases came into force 011 1July 1977 *'
4.Asaresult ofthese increaRes theaverage dollar fob price ofcrude
imported bytheCommunity increased gradually during theyear ,theprice
inthelast quarter being more than ljfouponthat ofthefirst quarter
andmora than 10$uponthe ;average price fortheendof1976 .Inview
of'thedollar exchange rate fluctuation during theyear inrelation to
Community currencies ,theincreases ,when expressed innational currencies ,
were lower ,(seeSection IV). ,
•ν ' ,
5»Apart from certain grades ofcrude from Libya andAlgeria which were
'affected bythesurplus availability oflight crude ,thefobprices of
■thevarious grades ofcrxxde were inline with themarket prices setby
theproducing countries.' .Similarly there waslittle variation inthe
supply costs ofthevarious Community countries .Annex 1illustrates
this tretfsd foreach ofthe reain types ofimported crude .
II»Price ofimported pctrolcivr ;products -
6.Cenerally speaking }-average -import prices ,inreal .terms ,ofpetroleum 1'
products -were affected bythewe^k demand situation *Theprice differences
between theMember States areinsignificant andareattributable tothe
differences inspecification onparticular markets ,i.e. different sulphur
andlead content ,varying viscosity ©to , ..Annex 2illustrates thetrends :
recorded . A
HI •Consumer prices ofpetroleum product s '
7*Annexes 3and4show thetrend inconsumer prices expressed innational
.currencies ,both netofandinclusive ofduty andtax. - .
- ^uiy-.aBd-,tax > .
Thelevel ofexcise duty varies markedly from onecountry toanother ,
especially onautomotive fuels .-VATisgenerally charged atthenormal
rate jithasnotbeen taken into account forfuel .oilused byindustry
however since itcanboclaimed back .
Thelevels ofduty and .taxdidnotvary significantly during the
year ,except inDenmark where they were ^inex'eased onautomotive and
heating fuels .

–£onsuraerj?ri£ee not' .of^dut ^andtax
Consumer prices were generally remarkably stable in1977 *
Asaresult ,consumers were scarcely affected "bytheincreases in
crude oilprices -thanks toadjustments incurrency parities with
thedollar andalso tothekeen competition onthemarket .
IV.Cost and revenue trends onthe domestic market <
■,8.Tables 1and 2andtheannexed graph show thetrend inthepurchasing ,
costs ofcrude ,oilandex-refinery returns ineach Member State for
each quarter of1977 « 1 ,v
9*-Supply costs cover imported crude andcrude produced intheCommunity .
Inorder totake account ofexchange rate fluctuations ,theindices
arebased oncosts expressed innational currencies .Thefigures
fortheCommunity asawhole correspond totheweighted average ,ofthe
national figures .
10.Overall ex–refinery revenue ,asdefined intheCouncil Directive ,relates
tothedomestic consumption ofpetroleum products ,excluding exports
and6hips *_bunkers . > ■
,Since thepattern ofconsumption varied during -theyear (higher
consumption ofautomotive fuels insummer and ofheating fuels in
winter )aseasonally-adjusted.' index wascalculated based onanaverage
consumption pattern forthefour quarters .
•/.

TABIff i1–Costtrends oferuda oil ("basis :1stquarter 1977 *>100)
^Indices calculated onthebasis ofthevalues expressed in
Rational currencies ), ■ •
2ndçuarter / ..3rdquarter 4thquart^r
* ** • •*
Belgium .104,12 . 103,42 • 102,46
Denmark 1.05,75 . 104,97 " '' 107,59
Germany 99,67 98,47 96,7i
France 101,97 102,42 . ;10?,£5
Ireland , 101,27 . 101,83 , 98,53
•.r■■ • ^ r .
Italy 102,34 . -103,67 %104,20
Netherlands , 102,14 - 101,98 ' • 9974.
United Kingdom .103 102,57 •9871
EEC ; ". .101,79 101,73 ' .JJQSLr^
Excluded from theEECaverage forpurposes ofcomparison .
'TABLE2-Trends inex-refiner.y returns ("basis :1"quarter 1977»100)
\Indices calculated ,onthebasis ofthevalues expressed in
Rational curronoies )
2ndquarter ■: 3rdcharter 4-thguartor
Belgium •• V.
Denmark '101/«0' ■105,51 ; '10i,«
Coriaany • , . 96,03 .
France " //102,53 102,63 ICs'm
Netherlands 103,50 99,55
United Kingdom 102,45 10009
EEC . ' 101,12' 99,54102,33 Ireland , .107,23 i 109,82 102,32
Italy ■99,85 '100,1.4 .9g
:' 99,23
96,52
.1CG,33
^arter ftofC?S?rer1?°*i0Vels af*concerned ,thechoice ofthefirst
dis+ortion hlJ** 810creai;es *certain degree ofinitialXJ^lateS# Inthe°a8e°fFrance »for
markets in !onprices forhalfofthefirst quarter whereas the 'owa^ds countries registered increases fromtheendof1976

Thefollowingconclusions may"bedrawnfromthiscomparativeanalysis/
-takenoverall,costsincreasedmarginallyfromthefirsttothe
fourthquarter(+0.94$)whenadjustedforadollardepreciation ;
-althoughrevenuefellsharplyinthefirstquarter,itpickedup
againattheend-oftheyear(+0.33/o);thiswasstillleesthan
theincreaserecordedforcosts;
-thegainonexchangeratesinrespectofcrudeoilv-hi-hwas
particularly markedinthefourthquarterpartlyoffsetthefall
inrevenuewhich "beganinthethirdquarter.Thispartialrecovery
inproceedsinrelationtosupplycostisnothoweversufficient
tocompensateforthedeficitontheactivitiesofrefiningand
distribution whichpersistedthroughout 1977•
Thisoverallviewcoverssituationswhichobviouslydifferfromone
MemberStatetoanother,dependingontherelativestrengthoftheir
currencies ,theirinternaleconomicsituationandthecompetitive
structureofthemarkets-

ANNEXE 1
rs-
Prix F.O.B. moyens des brots tes plus ,caractéristiques de
l'aDorovisionnemént delaCEE.En £/baril
t
x Prix F.O.B.
Lt ,Moyens C.E.I E.
1eT.'77 2eT.'77 3eT.'77 4eT.'77
A
Arabian Light ,34° 11/69 12,04 12,36 >12,65
Arabian Heavy ,27° 11,18 '11,34 . 11,60 11,95
Iranfan Light ,34° 12,17 12,63 12,72 ' 12,72 -
Irani an -Heavy ,31a 11:98 13,37 12,39 12,35
Irak-Basrah ,35° 11,86 1^2 12,43 12,42
Kuwait ,31® .11/70 12/16
I12,28 12,23
Libya ;40° 13,38 13,56 13,80 '! 13,70 ,
Nigéria ,34? 13,87 - 14,28 14,32 14,23 .
•«Venezuelan Heavy ,17° 11,02 11,40 11,49 11,83 ,
Autres bruts\.**2/24 12,41
Iv12,50
β12,71
: TOTAL 12,23t
|12,55 12,73 12,S5

ANNEXE 2
PRIX MOYENS DES PRODUITS PETROLIERS IMPORTES ■
"'EN SPAR TONNE METRIQUE ' , ■
I ~Ies.Super Es,,Normaie |Gasoil T.L.% S>1% F.L.% S<.1%
I-Belgique -r^-I
79,16 35,57 I'•1erTrimestre ^44,10 133,55 118,43
I 2eTrimestre I 143,22 137,12 121,53 V76,46 86,07
3e Trimestre 141,88 133,04 119,40 84,39 78,42
I4eTrimestre 140,97 132,77 120,23 82,32 91,99
!-Danemark
1»r Trimestre *147,48 139,22 116,90 82,20
I 2eTrimestre -151,87 142,50 121,98 76,89 90,01
I 3eTrimestre 145,59 137,99 122,44 78,46 89,35
I 4eTrimestre 145,45
I .138,09
i123,16 82,73 • 87,55
I.-Allemagne L . I* •
I 1er Trimestre 146,64 134,21 |117,98 83,50 85,12
I 2eTrimestre -, I 150,31 136,42 120,00 84,02 84,60
I 3e Trimestre ! 144,99 134,28 120,14 83,81 84,68
I 4e Trimestre
j140,23129,34120,49 j87,21 87,69
j~France
J1er ,Trimestre [150,20 131,40 116,00 : 84,40
| 2eTrimestre . ! 142,90 .135,30 118,50 ; 76-90
I 3e -Trimestre 140,44 135,63 jI i«7,66 | 78,64~
J4eTrimestre j[137,00120,00 j79,80
i°*Irlande ί· -!! . . I
I -!
Ir 1erTrimestre i."147,71 138,88 118,80 ' I 81,24 . 84,13 i
2e Trimestre t 152,83 139,76 122,19 .i 77,97 77,21 : !
[,3eTrimestre 147,81 136,17 I 123,79 ;| 80,38 i 78,68 t
f 4e Trimestrei144,51 - 137,51 124,12 -; 51,02 ■■j84,18
I-Italie | lI j
! ■ is
•i
|1er *Trimestre l 156,64 , 111,93 83,65 94,?97
I 2e Trimestre I143,27 1,15,58 76,53 -,87,38
J 3eTrimestre ! 137,44 ii 1-18,75 79,73 86,16
»► 4e Trimestre 133,09 117,64 i ,80,57 86,90 1
-Pays-Bas[
|.1erTrimestre -145,33 111,12 79,56 . .96,38
! 2e Trimestre i! 151,95 '110,83 74,17
!•3e Trimestre 118,47 - 77,01
j4eTrimestre I 137,86 129,00 116,50 .
/ 84,69 j
I"*Royal e-Uni■ ■" I
I«
j 1erTrimestre 14.9,20 146,10 117,80 80,30 I
I 2eTrimestre 147,80 134,70 121,80 74,30 i
l 3e Trimestre 149.60 ! 142,60 118,20 79,00 87,10 *E
|4eTrimestre■142,40 135,30 116,82 81,99
I
y
V'.
■•«v -,.!
»ί*
* •
.
'
3
• - E
f
•;
..;
L
É
>
■'' fi
Y

' ANNEXE 3
PRIX DES PRODUITS PETROLIERS -PRIX PRATIQUES AUX CONSOMMATEURS
DROITS ETTAXES INCLUS -ENMONNAIES NATIONALES
' ' II~ Carburants par1000L.>11
!! Combustibles
Λil –
!!Domestiques par 1000 L. Industriels
T.M.
Es.Super Es.Normale Gasoil_JJ
"Gasoil
HF.Léger <erosene F.Lourd
H.T.S.
Belgique (FS)
15janvier 77
15avril 77 ■
15juillet 77
15octobre 7714.882
16.073 ^
15.897
15.54014.520
15.580
15.475
.15.0509.461
9.397
9.400
8.720Π
Π
!5.026
!5.015
!4.893
î4.9204.988 ...
4.977 •
4.837 -
4.8603.254 „
3.071
2.949
3.160
Danemark (Kr)
15janvier 77
15avril77
15juillet 77
15octobre 772.670
2.540
2.560
.2.7602.610
2.480
2.490 '
2.6901.050
1.080
1.120
1.240ii
H
i850
|880
i920
î1.040 .543
563
573
668
Allemagne (DM)
15janvier 77
15avril 77 •
15juillet 77
15 octobre 77912,10
912,80
905,40
907,10860,20 >
865,60
860,80
856,40883,70
884,10
882,70
«82,20H
II
II
| [
II.305,40
310,36
303,59
303,92228,22
224,74
211,90
219,81
France (FF)
15janvier 77
15avril 77
15juillet 77
15octobre 772.250
2.310
2.370
2.3702.090 .
2.140
2.190
2.1901.340
1.390
1.430
1.430H
II
II
I!729,10
i!777,34
m 776,16
!!803,33Il '■ ■-Γ
374,80
399,80
388,20
414,70
Irlande (D
15janvier 77
15avril 77
15juillet 77
15octobre 77209,61
207,21
207,21203,52
202,81
202,81142,29
148,73Il ■
II
M
Il 1
IL -
!! 81,90
!! 85,23
!! 85,30
h .74,30
88,34
88,4068,50
71,30
.71,20
Italffe (Lires )
15janvier 77
15avril 77
15juillet 77
15octobre 77500.000 •
500.000 -
500.000 >
500.000480.000
480.000
480.000
480.000150.000
155.000 .
155.000
155.000II
I
I
1120.600
Î132.800
!137.115
1137.506
i101.700
110.400
111.817
112.46072.750
79.167
76.025
74.468
Pays-Bas (Fl)
15janvier 77
15avril 77
15juillet 77
15.octobre 771.096
1.086
1.086 .
1.0761.060
1.060
1.060
.1.052563
574
574
574ii
H
I342,20
II353,60
Il353,60
!!355,68
ii .230,15
232,65
223,75
227,06
Royaume-Uni (t)u
n
II
15janvier 77
15avril 77
15juillet 77
15octobre 77174,90
185,20
183,50
169,20170,50
180,60
179,10
165,20171,60
183,50
,187,20
185,00
'*! 79,30
! 82,50
! 86,10
j85,2081,50
82,60
85,50
84,7056,20
57,80
.58,00
56,10
■■■■ ■■■■■■ ~–

Be
15
15
15
15
Dai
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
Fr
15
15
15
15
Ir
15
15
15
15
Iti
15
15
15
15
Pa;
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15PRIX DES PSSDUITS PET3QLIE3S -PBIX P?ATI3U £SAUXCOfoC^X ATEURS -""ANNEXE 4
' DROITS ETTAXES EXCLUS .ENMONNAIES NATIONALES
Carburants par 1000 L.
Es.Super Es.Normale IGasoil
6.342
6.500
6.345
6.030
1.093,04
980
997,39
1.010,28
381,70
382,34
375,68
377,21
903,30
954,30
954,30
954,20
95,07
92,87
92,87
142.290
143.930
143.930
143.930
440,21
431,74
431,74
423,26
89,5
87,5
86,0
84,56.000
•6.074
5.975
5.600
1.040,87
927,82
936,52
<950,96
335,00
339,82
335,50
331,53
821,90
864,40
864,40
864,30
91,16
88,87
88,87
133.490
134.320
134.320
134.320
4Û9,71
409,71
409,71
402,93
£5,6
83,6
32,3
£0,95.501
5.437
5.446
4.850
878,24
904,33
939,11
955,45
378,90
379,29
378,23
377,77
673,90
.716,40
716,40
716,30
90,36
109,76
108.970
110.970
110.970
110.970
354,95
365,52
365,52
365,52
92,9
92,8'
96.3
94.4Combustibles ''
Domestiques par 100<"l L. Ind.D.T.f.
iG.oit
ιIF.Léger]Kérosène .F.Lourds
ι
ι I „H.T.S.
4.291 4.2563.154
4.280 4.245 2.971
4.166 4.114 2.849
4,190 4.140 3.060
703,03 518
730,42 538
765,20 548
*785,96 563
i
i, :--
i
i •- /:
l
I 266,-70 213,22
i
i 271,20 i 209,74
i ■-•
i 265,10 196,90
i
i265,40i . ■ ■204,81
> i
599 374
640 399
639 387,40
661 413,90
77,5 69,9 64,10
80,83 83,94 66,73
80,90 . 84 66,62
101.855 87.584 71.950
101.515 91.322 78.367
101.972 91.369 75.025
102.315 91.933
I
i73.468
295,34 215,07
306,30 217,57
306,30I208,67 ;
308,30 211,98
77,1 79,3 53,9
77 80,4 52,1
80,6 | 83,3 52,3
79,7 82,5 . 50,4 ■
–

m
Entwicklung derRohölpreisindexe(fob )
1.Vierteljahr 1977=100
Evolution desindices desprixmoyens(fob ]dupetrole
brut-1er.trimestre 1977=100
Evolution ofindices ofaverage (fobJpnces
ofcrude oil(1stquarter 1977=100) ■Entwicklung derNetback-(Nettoerl6s
at>Raffinerie)-lndexe l.viertetjahr 1977=100
Evolution desindices delavalcrisation gtobale ex-
raffinerie –ler.trimestre 1977=100 ■:
Evolution ofindices ofoverall ex-refinery
netbacksfl s*quarter 1977 =100)
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY -COMMUNAUTE EUROPEENNE
Πηυ
105
100
95
90ι
. I□□
L ι F
I977I IIΒΊ 9761 I III IV.29791 19771 II II IV19761 IIIII Vm
1979 11!II
2IL □PELGiE -BELGIQUE
. . .1JO–– ■ . . –-,
-4–––105––– –– ^
95 ; 1 : :7-j–
90 '~ '– I' ^
DANMARK
<110
105
100
95
904 □ζv 
i■I
y !
B.R.DEUTSCHLAND
•i-• -
11 1 11/1nnri
105– – j !
^ I |I
90 U– 1
.... 1

m
Π
ΠΒU
Π
1977 1IIIIIV 1978 1IIV19791IIJrRANCE
–mr~
– 105–
100–
95–ππ
U Ππ
I
19771 IIV 1978 1IIIIIIVΠ
9791□
IRELAND
Πm
105
100
95
904/i–Γ\I\Ππ
A0□nβ
$//τ□πππΓΙ
□
ITALIA
"1110t
-105-
-100 =-
-95-
-90-
NEDERLAND
-r–Ino–r-
––105–-
–100–
–– 95
–90π
N
V
I
II
UNITED KINGDOM
□110
105
100
95
90□
Iχ*
IΠππ\ν
■Ι|
í¡