TotalEnergies announces extra fuel cap in France this weekend amid petrol price highs

Service station operator TotalEnergies has renewed commitments to a ‘holiday’ price cap for fuel this weekend, even as petrol prices reach new highs.

Prices will be capped at €1.99/l for petrol and €2.09/l of diesel for all drivers at all TotalEnergies stations, between May 23 - 25. 

It follows similar promotions across extended weekends (ponts) in May, which has seen several bank holidays fall on Fridays (May 1, May 8) and Thursday (May 14). 

Outside of these long weekends, the group’s standard cap has applied, with prices capped at €1.99/l for petrol and €2.25/l for diesel. 

Customers with a TotalEnergies gas or electricity energy contract benefit from a €1.99/l cap on all fuel types.

Petrol prices reach four-year high

The announcement comes as petrol prices in France reach highs not seen in several years.

Average prices per litre on Monday for SP95 was €2.05, placing it above the TotalEnergies price cap and around 33c per litre higher than before the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East on February 28.

May 2026 was the first time that SP95 prices reached above €2 per litre since the outbreak of the War in Ukraine in February 2022.

In comparison, SP98 has hovered at just above €2 per litre since April 2026, and is also at a four-year high. In both cases, prices are now catching up to records seen in spring 2022.

Diesel prices have dropped from record highs of nearly €2.40 per litre in April 2026, but remain well above 2025 prices. They have jumped more than 40% in a year.

High prices have led to reduced vehicle usage, with the French government reporting that fuel consumption dropped by 30% between May 1, 2026 and May 10, 2026.

Will fuel caps be prolonged?

The wider TotalEnergies promotion is set to finish at the end of May, and as of May 19 there is no indication of whether the cap will be renewed for the summer. 

TotalEnergies recently announced profits of €4.96 billion for the first quarter of 2026, a 51% increase on last year’s figures.

This has led to renewed calls for a form of redistribution tax levied against the company, with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu hinting that “if there are exceptional results, it raises the question of redistribution.” 

CEO of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné has responded negatively to the idea of any increase in taxes, and says it may lead to any future fuel cap being lifted. 

“We decided on this price cap ourselves at the beginning of the crisis. We are the only oil company in the world to have made such a decision. And we warned: this measure could be revised in the event of a surcharge on the company's refineries.” 

For his part, the prime minister is set to announce a new round of measures to deal with the fuel crisis on Thursday May 21.