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France Moves to Expand Fuel Relief and Publish Tax Windfalls as TotalEnergies Threatens Price Cap Over Surtax

Paris says crisis-driven tax windfalls will finance targeted relief.

Overview

  • TotalEnergies' CEO warned Tuesday that a refinery surtax would force the company to end its pump price cap of €1.99 for petrol and €2.25 for diesel.
  • The government, which announced Monday a 10-day reporting schedule, says higher pump prices produced €190 million in extra fuel-tax receipts in March–April.
  • Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu says that surplus will fund €380 million in targeted aid and that a larger package for households and exposed sectors will be unveiled early next week.
  • TotalEnergies reported $5.8 billion in first-quarter profit, fueling left-wing calls for a temporary super-profits tax that the government is handling cautiously.
  • Energy minister Maud Bregeon said the state will post weekly data on distributors' gross margins and argued recent price jumps reflect global oil costs rather than abusive markups.