Excise clearances of marked gas oil, otherwise known as green diesel, were 4.4% lower in the first two months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published a report on fuel excise clearances for February 2026.

Clearances for green diesel stood at 85 million litres in January 2026 and 83 million litres in February 2026.

In January and February 2025, clearances for green diesel stood at 88 million litres each month.

Petrol and diesel

The CSO figures show that unleaded petrol clearances were 7.4% higher in the first two months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

Excise clearances of autodiesel in February 2026, at 257 million litres, were 5.1% lower than the February 2025 figure of 271 million litres.

This was the lowest figure for February autodiesel clearances since 2021.

In the first two months of 2026, kerosene clearances increased by 5% compared with the same period in 2025.

CSO excise clearances report

Commenting on the release, Dr. Robert Stapleton, statistician in the climate and energy division of the CSO, said: "Clearances are the duty paid on the quantity of oil removed from bonded warehouses and provide a proxy for sales.

"Autodiesel and marked gas oil were lower in the first two months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, while unleaded petrol and kerosene were higher.

"There was a 3.1% decrease in autodiesel excise clearances when comparing the 12-month rolling period of March 2025-February 2026 with March 2024-February 2025.

"Unleaded petrol excise clearances rose by 6.3% when comparing the 12-month rolling period of March 2025-February 2026 with March 2024-February 2025 while marked gas oil excise clearances increased by 0.3%."

Dr. Stapleton said that kerosene excise clearances at 976 million litres were around the same levels when comparing the 12-month rolling period of March 2025-February 2026 with March 2024-February 2025.

Kerosene is mainly used as a home heating fuel.