This Python script utilizes the BeautifulSoup (bs4) and Requests libraries to scrape average monthly and weekly fuel and energy prices in Italy from the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.
We hope that Check FUEL proves to be a useful tool for monitoring fuel prices in Italy. Please refer to the README.md file for further instructions on script installation and usage.
To get started with the code on this repo, you need to either clone or download this repo into your machine as shown below;
git clone https://github.com/giovannilovino/check-italian-fuelBefore you begin playing with the source code, you might need to install dependencies just as shown below;
pip3 install -r requirements.txtTo execute the script, no special requirements are needed. After installing the necessary libraries from requirements.txt, you just need to run one of the two scripts, Check_Monthly_FUEL.py or Check_Weekly_FUEL.py. The script will automatically perform web scraping.
Explore it and twist it to your own use case.
The primary goal of Check FUEL is to provide a simple and reliable way to track fuel prices, using both monthly and weekly data directly from the Italian government's website. This can be particularly useful for businesses managing logistics and transportation, enabling them to monitor costs and invoices on a monthly and weekly basis.
The scraping approach adopted is designed to be robust to small layout changes on the site. However, if the site undergoes significant modifications, the script should be adapted accordingly.
Automated Emails: An automated email service can be implemented to send results regularly, enabling more proactive monitoring.
Difference Comparison: Please note that only Check_Weekly_FUEL.py will generate a .txt file with the output. Libraries like difflib can be implemented to compare weekly .txt files and identify significant price variations.
In the last two years, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security website has remained largely unchanged, but it is advisable to check for any alterations and adjust the scripts accordingly. If the site undergoes significant changes, the scripts may require adaptation to maintain their efficiency.
In case you have any difficulties or issues while trying to run the script you can raise an issue.
If you have something to add, I welcome pull requests on improvement; your helpful contribution will be merged as soon as possible.
If you find this repo useful, give it a star so that many people can get to know it.
All the credit goes to Giovanni Lovino.