The hunt for the black gold: Empty gas stations at the borders - Desperate customers react drastically
Created: 03/08/2022, 22:16
By: Josef Hornsteiner
Many gas stations near the border in Bavaria ran out of fuel on Sunday.
Operators fear it will only get worse.
Scharnitz/Seefelder Plateau
– The atmosphere is tense – “very tense”, says Romina Reinpold.
"People are panicking." With growing concern, she has been observing the operation of her gas station of the same name in the neighboring Mittenwald and border town of Scharnitz for a few days.
The young operator has never experienced anything like this.
People are standing with canisters at the pumps, hoarding petrol, and a long queue forms in front of the checkout.
Locals line up next to day trippers, professional drivers next to ski vacationers.
"They're afraid they won't be able to get anything anymore," Reinpold explains.
Fear that the price per liter for diesel or Super 95 will crack the two-euro mark in the Tyrolean neighbors - as is currently the case in Germany.
Or even that soon nothing will work anymore.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, fuel has been in short supply at the gas stations in the border area.
Clear message for customers in many places in Tyrol.
Here at a gas station in Seefeld.
© Private
(Our GAP newsletter keeps you up to date with all the important stories from your region. Sign up here.)
"Diesel empty, super empty" is the motto in many petrol stations on the border with Bavaria
On Sunday around 3.30 p.m. the fuel at the pumps on the Seefeld Plateau ran out.
“Diesel empty, super empty” read the handwritten notes.
Actually no reason to panic.
"On average three times a year we run out of diesel or petrol on the days with the highest sales," says Reinpold.
Usually at the beginning or end of the holidays, like now.
"Our supplier can't come on Saturday," she says.
Blame the Austrian driving ban for trucks at the weekend.
She received the last load of fuel on Friday evening, the next one on Sunday night at 10 p.m.
This means that a dry spell can occasionally occur on the busy weekends.
Explosion in fuel prices: Even in Austria you are now paying record sums
But this year it's different.
The situation is much more tense than usual. Prices have skyrocketed since Ash Wednesday.
On Monday afternoon, a liter of diesel or Super 95 cost 1.85 euros.
Record for the otherwise so cheap neighboring country.
"The purchase price is gigantic at the moment," says Reinpold, who started seven years ago as an authorized officer at the gas station.
The profit margin per liter is just a few cents.
"So we are not making any profit from the crisis," it is important for her to emphasize.
And since no one knows where all this will lead, a non-stop rush to the gas station has broken out.
(Our GAP newsletter keeps you up to date with all the important stories from your region. Sign up here.)
At 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Reinpold and her employees closed the taps with cable ties to prevent people from filling up.
"We have to keep 1000 liters in the tank," she explains.
Otherwise deposits would form on the bottom, which would permanently destroy the vessel.
Fuel prices explode: Desperate customers pinch closed taps
Then things happened that Reinpold hadn't even remotely thought possible.
People came and unceremoniously tweaked the cable ties and refueled - simply unstoppable.
"It's crazy what's happening here at the moment." On Sunday evening, Reinpold's supplier said: "You were lucky again" when he delivered the liquid black gold.
He can no longer guarantee whether and how much petrol he can bring in the near future.
"Scarcity cannot be ruled out," says Reinpold.
According to her, the government is currently considering that gas stations only get a certain quota of fuel.
"The concerns of the citizens are justified," says Romina Reinpold.
Where will all this lead to?
"I don't know." You can find more current news from the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen here.
