Excise clearances of marked gas oil, also referred to as ‘green diesel’, in January were 5% lower when compared to the same month in 2024, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The latest data published today (Thursday, March 13) shows that excise clearances of green diesel stood at 88 million litres in the month of January 2025, down from 93 million litres in January 2024.

According to the CSO, clearances reflect the duty paid on oil removed from bonded warehouses. The data provides “a proxy for sales”, but do not reflect actual consumption.

The data shows that excise clearances of auto diesel in January 2025, at 261 million litres, were 9% lower than the January 2024 figure of 287 million litres.

In January 2025, unleaded petrol excise clearances, at 81 million litres, were 1% less than the January 2024 figure of 82 million litres.

Kerosene excise clearances were 113 million litres in January 2025, 15% lower than the January 2024 figure of 133 million litres.

Commenting on the data, Deirdre Moran, statistician in the CSO Climate and Energy Division, said: "The four fuels, auto diesel, unleaded petrol, marked gas oil, and kerosene all had lower clearance volumes in January 2025 when compared with January 2024.

"Auto diesel clearances were 8.8% lower when comparing January 2025 with January 2024. They were 2.5% lower when comparing the 12-month rolling period of February 2024-January 2025 with February 2023-January 2024.

"Unleaded petrol clearances were 1.1% less when comparing January 2025 with January 2024. They were 4.7% higher when comparing the 12-month rolling period of February 2024-January 2025 with February 2023-January 2024."

Moran noted that marked gas oil is primarily used for off-road purposes such as agriculture and the heating of larger buildings.

"Marked gas oil clearances were 2.2% greater when comparing the 12-month rolling period of February 2024-January 2025 with February 2023-January 2024," she said.

"Kerosene clearances reduced by 1.7% when comparing the 12-month rolling period of February 2024-January 2025 with February 2023-January 2024. Kerosene is mainly used as a home heating fuel," Moran added.