Extreme fuel prices: That's why diesel is so expensive right now - experts clarify
Created: 03/08/2022, 22:25
By: Dominik Jahn
Fuel prices are at their highest.
For diesel in particular, experts don't just see dependence on Russia as a problem.
The Ukraine war has been raging in Europe for almost two weeks.
The economic consequences are now also being felt in Germany.
The fuel prices at the petrol stations are constantly rising to new highs – with extensive consequences for motorists*, as
echo24.de
* reported.
Meanwhile, there are gloomy prospects from experts and politicians*.
Diesel prices in particular have unexpectedly skyrocketed.
An expert explains why.
Recently, a liter of diesel was even more expensive than petrol in Germany.
On March 7th the fuel price climbed to over two euros.
In view of the current developments, a full tank of fuel in a car is now more than a quarter more expensive than it was a year ago.
Extreme diesel prices: Experts talk about the background
The oil price is the biggest price driver at the gas stations.
The problem with this: According to the trade journal Handelsblatt, Russia
“accounts for around ten percent of global oil production”
.
The sanctions are having an effect here too.
Diesel in particular has always been the cheapest fuel for motorists.
But now came the rude awakening.
The petroleum association Fuels und Energie explained the reasons for the unexpectedly high fuel price at the diesel pump at petrol stations to
the
Handelsblatt .
Germany has therefore already started to reduce imports of Russian oil for several weeks: "The mineral oil industry in Germany has already initiated the reduction of imports of Russian crude oil and mineral oil products, primarily diesel."
Problems for diesel prices: Demand for heating oil is unusually high
The
General German Automobile Club (ADAC
) is also keeping an eye on the extreme price increases for diesel.
A spokesman for ADAC
commented on one of the main problems in the
Handelsblatt report.
The short-term procurement of a replacement for the Russian diesel is causing prices to rise.
Average weekly fuel prices for the past few months.
© ADAC eV
The situation is exacerbated by the current
"high demand for heating oil"
: "This is actually atypical for the season, but apparently people are currently buying heating oil because they don't know what it will be like next winter."
Rising Diesel Prices: Expert on Western Premature Reaction
Commodity analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann also sees
"a morally motivated anticipation of possible Western sanctions policies by oil buyers"
as the cause of rising fuel prices, especially diesel.
Very early on, there were expectations "that western countries could also sanction oil exports".
According to Leuchtmann, Russian oil producers have recently had to struggle more and more with purchase problems.
Fewer and fewer countries wanted their oil.
As the report makes clear, however, Germany's dependence on Russian oil has recently been
"particularly strong in an international comparison"
.
Ukraine war drives up diesel prices: costs for a Brent barrel close to an all-time high
According to
ADAC
statistics , a good third of the crude oil purchased in this country came from Russia.
With the Ukraine war and the sanctions that have been implemented, this dependency is now having an extremely high impact on fuel prices – especially for diesel.
Brent barrel
By definition,
Brent
is the most important type of crude oil for Europe.
It is native to the North Sea between the Shetland Islands and Norway.
Barrel
is the unit of crude oil.
It is a historical barrel with 159 liters.
The price for a Brent barrel has now risen significantly higher: due to the open discussions about a possible import ban on Russian oil, the price rose again at the beginning of the week.
According to the Handelsblatt, it temporarily rose to $139 on Monday night.
"It even approached its all-time high of 150 dollars from 2008"
.
*
echo24.de
is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.