Fuel coupon prices for Italy won’t increase during March, but there are no guarantees beyond that, a Navy official said.

“We don’t speculate when deciding what the prices will be for the following month,” said Bart Di Muccio, who works as the administrator for the Tax-Free office on the Navy base at Capodichino, Naples.

“We base [prices] solely on raw data. But the data right now doesn’t look good. With the dollar at an all-time low against the euro, and oil rising to an all-time high, topping $100 per barrel, there’s a good chance that next month prices could go up,” Di Muccio said.

Each month, the Tax-Free Office sets prices for fuel coupons by calculating changes in the barrel price of fuel, fluctuations in the currency exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the euro, and any gains or losses the Navy Exchange and AAFES incurred in the previous month’s sales.

Currently, motorists in Italy are paying $3.82 a gallon for unleaded and $4.20 a gallon for diesel.

There are no fuel stations to fill up private vehicles on bases in Italy, so customers buy coupon booklets from Navy Exchange or Army and Air Force Exchange Service outlets and redeem the coupons at any Agip or Esso gas station in Italy.

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