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Every litre of fuel in the world is split into the same few slices. Most of them you can’t touch. One of them you can, and it’s the one nobody talks about.
The pump is the last stop. The price was mostly decided long before the fuel got here.
On September 21, the average price of a litre of diesel around the world was $1.66. In Hong Kong it was $4.90. In some heavily subsidized markets, it was less than a cent.
Same molecule. Same product spec. Bought from the same global market. So why can the price of one litre vary by more than a hundred times depending on where you’re standing?
Because what you pay at the pump, or on your supplier’s invoice, isn’t really the price of fuel. It’s a stack of slices. Every country starts from roughly the same international product price, then layers different taxes and subsidies on top. And before any of that, there are the layers most people never see at all.
Let’s cut the litre open.
Quick answer: A litre of diesel is built from four slices: crude oil, refining, trade and distribution, and tax. Crude and tax are set by the market and by law, so buyers can’t negotiate them. The trade and distribution slice, which covers shipping, storage, traders and intermediaries, is the one buyer can actually influence, and it’s where the biggest hidden savings usually sit.
The Four Slices In Every Litre
Whether you’re filling a car in Lisbon, a truck in Lagos or a generator in Manila, the price breaks down into the same basic parts.
| Slice | What it pays for | Can a buyer influence it? |
| Crude oil | The raw oil that goes into the refinery | No. It’s a global market price |
| Refining | Turning crude into diesel, plus the refiner’s margin | Only through timing and contract structure |
| Trade and distribution | Shipping, storage, terminals, traders, intermediaries, delivery and retail | Yes. This is where your choices matter most |
| Taxes | Excise duty, VAT or sales tax, other levies | No. Set locally |
The takeaway: You can’t negotiate the price of crude. You can’t negotiate your country’s fuel tax. But you can decide how many hands your fuel passes through before it reaches you.
Here’s what that looks like in three very different markets right now.
Europe: Taxes Are the Biggest Single Slice
On September 21, the EU average diesel price was €2.226 a litre. €0.861 of that was tax, 38.7 percent of the pump price. The other €1.365 covered everything else: the product, refining, transport, storage, blending, distribution and retail. Across the 27 countries, the tax share ranged from about 25 percent to over 50 percent.
The UK: Nearly Half Is Duty and VAT
In July 2026, a litre of UK diesel carried 84.36p of product cost and 80.41p of fuel duty and VAT. Almost a 50/50 split.
The US: Refining Is Doing the Heavy Lifting
In the week of September 14, a US gallon of diesel at $6.285 broke down into about $2.66 of crude, $2.22 of refining margin, and $1.40 of taxes, distribution and retail.
The Slice That Moved Most This Year Isn’t the Oil
Here’s the part that surprises people. In the euro area, refining costs and margins were about €0.13 a litre of diesel at the end of February. By the first three weeks of July, they were contributing €0.35 a litre. In the US, the refining slice went from $0.54 a gallon in February to $2.22 by mid-September.
In other words, a big part of this year’s pain came from the step between crude and finished fuel, not from crude itself. We unpacked why in our crack spread piece. But it also tells you something important: price isn’t one number handed down from the heavens. It’s built, layer by layer, by specific parties doing specific jobs.
Which brings us to the layer that’s hidden inside “trade and distribution.”
The Invisible Slice: Who Touched Your Fuel Before You Did
Between the refinery gate and your tank, fuel changes hands. Sometimes once. Sometimes many times. Each hand can take a cut.
In a clean spot deal, the party that actually owns the product, the title holder, typically earns a spread of $5 to $30 per metric ton. A genuine seller’s mandate might earn 1 to 3 percent of cargo value. Each introducer in the chain typically takes $1 to $5 per ton. Across the wider market, brokers and intermediaries commonly earn $5 to $15 per metric ton. On a 10,000-ton diesel purchase, that’s $50,000 to $150,000 in commission alone.
A metric ton of diesel is roughly 1,190 litres. So $10 a ton works out to less than a US cent per litre. Sounds trivial, right?
Now scale it. A distributor moving 20,000 tons a month is paying $200,000 a month for that one layer. $2.4 million a year. And that’s one layer, disclosed. Stack three or four of them, add a markup nobody mentions, and you’re paying real money for people who never stored, shipped, inspected or insured a single litre.
Extra Layers Cost More Than Money
The commission is the part you can calculate. The rest is harder to put a number on.
- Slower deals. Every layer adds another inbox for documents to sit in. When a small commission is split seven ways, nobody has much reason to move fast.
- Less accountability. When a delivery is late or off-spec, who do you call? In a long chain, everyone points at someone else.
- More risk. Long chains are exactly where fake offers, recycled documents and “allocations” that don’t exist tend to hide.
Petrolodex’s own guide puts it bluntly: most real deals have about four layers between the title holder and the end buyer, six is the maximum legitimate structure, and a chain of seven or more is a “death chain” that won’t close.
How Close Are You To the Source? Five Questions
You don’t need to be a trader to work this out. Ask whoever sells you fuel.
- Who holds title to this product right now? A real supplier can name them. A reseller will get vague.
- Which terminal is it in, and can I verify it? Real product sits in a named tank you can confirm with the terminal operator.
- How is my price built? A transparent price is tied to a published benchmark plus or minus a stated differential, not a mystery number.
- How many parties sit between me and the owner of this fuel? If they can’t tell you, the answer is “too many.”
- Who is legally responsible if something goes wrong? You want one name on that answer, not a list.
Why Petrolodex Trades Direct
This is the whole reason Petrolodex exists. We trade principal-to-principal: direct trading, not brokerage. Buyers deal with one counterparty across North America, South America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, backed by direct refinery relationships and national oil company partnerships.
In practice, that means pricing tied to published benchmarks, every supply source authenticated before product is bought, independent SGS or Intertek inspection, buyer funds released only on verified transfer of product control, and full principal liability under every contract we sign. From our tanks to your customers, with nobody in between taking a slice for making an introduction.
We can’t lower the price of crude, and we won’t pretend otherwise. What we can do is take the invisible slice out of your fuel bill, and give you one name to call.
The Bottom Line
Every litre of fuel is built from the same slices: crude, refining, trade and distribution, and tax. The first two follow the market. The last one follows the law. The middle one follows your choices. Buy closer to the source, ask how your price is built, and count the hands your fuel passes through. That’s the part of the price you actually control.
Talk to us: Want to see how your price is built, with no hidden layers? Talk to Petrolodex directly. Principal-to-principal, no middleman, one point of accountability. Send your destination, monthly volume and product grade to info@petrolodex.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes up the price of a litre of diesel?
The retail price of diesel is built from four main components: the cost of crude oil, refining costs and margins, trade and distribution costs (including shipping, storage, intermediaries, delivery and retail), and taxes such as excise duty and VAT. The size of each slice varies by country.
Why do diesel prices vary so much between countries?
Countries buy fuel from broadly the same international market, but they apply very different taxes and subsidies. On September 21, 2026, the global average diesel price was $1.66 per litre, while prices ranged from under one US cent in heavily subsidised markets to $4.90 per litre in Hong Kong.
How much of the fuel price is tax?
It depends on the country. On September 21, 2026, taxes made up 38.7 percent of the EU average diesel price of €2.226 per litre. In the UK in July 2026, fuel duty and VAT were 80.41p of a litre of diesel, against 84.36p of product cost.
How much do fuel brokers and intermediaries charge?
Intermediaries in petroleum trading commonly earn $5 to $15 per metric ton, and each introducer in a chain typically takes $1 to $5 per ton. On a 10,000-ton diesel purchase, commissions can add $50,000 to $150,000, and multiple layers stack these costs.
Is it cheaper to buy fuel directly from a principal supplier?
Buying directly from the party that holds title to the fuel removes intermediary commissions and hidden markups, shortens deal timelines and gives the buyer a single accountable counterparty. Crude oil and taxes are unaffected, but the trade layer of the price is reduced.
How can I tell if my fuel supplier is the real source?
Ask who holds title to the product, which terminal it is stored in and whether you can verify it, how your price is built against a published benchmark, how many parties sit between you and the owner, and who is legally responsible if something goes wrong. A genuine principal can answer all five clearly.
Does Petrolodex act as a broker or intermediary?
No. Petrolodex trades principal-to-principal, meaning direct trading rather than brokerage. Buyers deal with Petrolodex as a single counterparty across North America, South America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, with benchmark-linked pricing, independent inspection and one point of accountability.
