Director of the Economic Control Department at the Hydrocarbon Control Authority, confirmed, on Monday in Algiers, that the consumption of fuel (petrol and diesel) in the national market reached 12.58 million tons in 2020, compared to 14.41 million tons in 2019.
In his intervention on the national fuel market, which he presented on the occasion of a technical day on the generalization of the use of unleaded gasoline, the same person explained that the share of gasoline in this total volume amounted to 3.36 million tons, including 1.33 million tons of unleaded gasoline compared to 3.91 million tons in 2019 with 1.51 million tons without lead.
The same official indicated a continuous decline in gasoline consumption during the past five years (from 2015 to 2020), as consumption decreased from 4.43 million tons in 2015 to 3.36 million tons in 2020.
The same decline was recorded with regard to oil consumption between 2015 and 2018, as it recorded, respectively, 15.03 million tons, 14.59 million tons and 14.23 million tons, but there is a recovery in oil consumption from 2018 to 2020, i.e. 14.29 million tons and 12.58 million tons, respectively.
In parallel with this decrease in fuel consumption, the official of the Fuel Control Authority indicated an increase in the National Car Park by 440,000 additional vehicles during the same reference period.
He added that “the number of cars during the period between 2016 and 2020 recorded an increase of 6.42 million units.”
The same intervener also indicated that the discrepancy between the development of the car park and the decrease in gasoline consumption is due to the increase in prices, as “prices during the period between 2015 and 2020 have doubled for regular gasoline to 22 dinars.”
In comparison to the development of gasoline consumption in the market, the same speaker indicated that the consumption of unleaded gasoline increased from 1.25 to 1.55 million tons.
In parallel, the consumption of premium gasoline moved from 2.04 million tons to 1.29 million, attributing this decline to the effects of replacing premium gasoline with unleaded gasoline.
As for the consumption of regular gasoline, the same official added that it has stabilized at one million tons.
The participants in this technical day also discussed the negative effects of lead on human health, recalling that this harmful pollutant was classified by the World Health Organization among the ten chemical products that threaten human health and they added that “it can cause serious diseases such as heart disease, lung disease and cancer.”
They also emphasized the health, environmental and economic benefits of switching to unleaded gasoline, noting that removing lead would also allow to activate the development of new technologies that are more respectful of the environment, while reducing pollutants in the air.
