The government will “ensure” that fuel prices fall “as quickly as they rise” after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, the government said on Wednesday.
A “control plan”
“When world prices fall, prices at the pump must fall, as quickly as they have risen. The government will ensure this,” wrote the Prime Minister on the social network X.
“We will carry out checks via the DGCCRF (the repression of fraud, Editor’s note) on the same model as what we had carried out in recent weeks,” warned government spokesperson Maud Bregeon.
Sébastien Lecornu indicates that the ministers concerned and state services will bring together for this purpose “the entire sector, from refiners to distributors, in Bercy” and that a “control plan will be launched”. The government spokesperson specified that this meeting would be held on Thursday. “No one in France should take advantage of this crisis, neither yesterday nor tomorrow,” adds the head of government.
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The 15-day truce announced between the United States and Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This diplomatic advance has first effects on the price of oil.
When world prices fall, prices at the pump must fall, as quickly as they rose. The…
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) April 8, 2026
In recent weeks, fuel prices have soared, a consequence of the war in the Middle East. Mr. Lecornu described as “diplomatic progress” the 15-day truce announced between the United States and Iran, which “could reopen the Strait of Hormuz”, where around a fifth of the world’s crude transits, and has “first effects on the price of oil”.
A barrel of Brent at $94, compared to $72 at the end of February
Brent from the North Sea, the world oil benchmark, and its American equivalent, WTI, fell by around 15% around 11:00 GMT. They are thus heading towards their biggest fall in a session since the start of 2020, when the Covid-19 health crisis broke out. “An absolutely historic drop,” according to Ms. Bregeon.
In terms of prices, however, crude oil prices remain significantly higher than those before the war in Iran, with Brent at $94 per barrel compared to $72 at the end of February, and WTI at $95 compared to $67 before the start of the conflict.
In France, fuel prices could fall by “5 to 10 cents” per liter “very quickly”, according to the president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (Ufip) Olivier Gantois. Ms. Bregeon said she remained “cautious” regarding this forecast. “We’ve already heard announcements of upcoming cuts that haven’t necessarily been reflected,” she said.
Faced with discontent, the government said on Tuesday that it was planning a new aid system for certain professions most affected, such as “nurses”, “home helpers” and “certain farmers”. “We will not let the French people who are working down,” reaffirmed Maud Bregeon, specifying that they are working on “other aid and possible new support systems”.
The government promised on Wednesday to use some additional tax revenue linked to soaring fuel prices to finance the electrification of the economy
