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Is there a price shock at the gas station? Diesel and petrol apparently more expensive than necessary

2022-08-13T06:21:27.064Z


Is there a price shock at the gas station? Diesel and petrol apparently more expensive than necessary Created: 08/13/2022, 08:18 By: Corinna Maier Fuel prices for petrol and diesel at filling stations may be more expensive than necessary. © Uwe Lein/dpa Petrol and diesel are expensive for drivers in Germany. According to ADAC, fuel prices should fall significantly. The most important questions


Is there a price shock at the gas station?

Diesel and petrol apparently more expensive than necessary

Created: 08/13/2022, 08:18

By: Corinna Maier

Fuel prices for petrol and diesel at filling stations may be more expensive than necessary.

© Uwe Lein/dpa

Petrol and diesel are expensive for drivers in Germany.

According to ADAC, fuel prices should fall significantly.

The most important questions at a glance.

Munich/Berlin – The price of fuel has fallen in recent weeks.

From the point of view of the ADAC automobile club, diesel and petrol in Germany are still more expensive than necessary.

Are the oil companies ripping off drivers?

And what happens when the tank discount ends at the beginning of September?

We answer the most important questions.


How expensive are diesel and petrol at the moment?

A liter of diesel cost around two euros at the end of the week in Munich, and a liter of E10 Super 1.82 euros.

In March, fuel was the most expensive so far: drivers had to pay an average of 2.07 euros for E10 and 2.14 euros for diesel.

Prices reached their all-time high on March 10 with an average of EUR 2.20 per liter of E10 and EUR 2.33 per liter of diesel.

The most expensive tank year to date was 2012 with average prices of 1.60 euros (E10) and 1.48 euros (diesel).


What does the ADAC say?

The automobile club complains that fuel prices in Germany are too high in view of the falling oil price and the rising dollar exchange rate.

Oil is traded in dollars.

The exchange rate had fallen over the course of the year, in mid-July one dollar was worth one euro.

In the meantime, you get around 1.03 dollars for one euro, so you have to spend less to buy oil.

In addition, the price of oil fell.

In June, Brent crude oil from the North Sea cost more than 120 dollars a barrel (159 liters) at times.

The price is now just under $100.


Why aren't fuel prices falling as much as oil prices?

Gasoline and diesel are made from crude oil in refineries.

The decisive factor is not only the price of oil, but also that of refined products.

"Especially in the past few months, the world market prices for petrol and diesel have decoupled from the price of crude oil," says Christian Küchen, Managing Director of the Fuels and Energy trade association.

The reason for this is the scarce refinery capacity that could not meet the demand for fuel.

"That means: Crude oil is not scarce on the world market, but the products made from it are petrol and diesel." The selling price at the pump not only includes the purchase price for fuel, but also taxes and duties.

According to kitchens, they are largely unchangeable and act like a fixed cost base.


Why did the oil price fall recently?

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There is fear in Europe and the US of an economic downturn.

Then less oil would be required.

In addition, China in particular has started to buy Russian oil on a large scale, which initially found only a few buyers despite very low prices due to Western sanctions.

Other countries followed suit.

They are now not buying any other oil, which is relaxing the market.

China, the world's second-largest economy, is going through an economic crisis due to the tough sanctions, which is why the country's demand for oil is lower than usual.


Is cashed in especially from German drivers?

There is always suspicion.

Ultimately, many factors influence the price of fuel that are not in the hands of an oil company.

The corporations made large profits in 2021 and in the first half of 2022, mainly because the global economy began to recover after the end of the pandemic.

Accordingly, the demand for oil and thus the price increased, while the production volume remained largely the same.

The profits of the oil companies also increased.

The petrol station market in Germany is less important in the international oil and refinery market, as industry experts claim.

Consumer advocates and the ADAC currently see things differently.


Fuel tax has been reduced since June 1st thanks to the tank discount.

What happens on August 31st when the tank discount ends?

The so-called tank discount will no longer apply from September 1st.

On June 1, the state reduced the energy tax for three months by 29.55 cents per liter of petrol and 14.04 cents per liter of diesel.

Fuel becomes more expensive by these amounts plus VAT.

This means that both the liter of petrol and diesel are likely to climb above the two euro mark.

The surcharge for petrol including VAT is 35 cents, for diesel 17 cents.

The national average was the Super E10 price at almost 1.70 euros, the diesel price at 1.87 euros.

According to the ADAC, prices in Bavaria have always been higher than the national average.


Are prices going up all at once?

Prices will not rise sharply everywhere.

Because the fuel is taxed in wholesale, petrol stations will have fuel from August in their tanks that is taxed even more cheaply on September 1st.

Where there are many gas stations vying for customers, the price will probably rise only slowly over several days.

Where there is little competition, things could go faster.


ADAC spokesman Andreas Hölzel also believes further relaxation on the crude oil market is possible, which could have a price-dampening effect.

This mechanism has also led to the price declines of the past few weeks - "it had nothing to do with the tank discount," says Hölzel.

However, the ADAC is not demanding an extension of the discount campaign, but a commuter flat rate that applies from the first kilometer and not only from the 21st kilometer, as is the case today.

"After all, the increase in price starts from the first kilometer," said the ADAC spokesman.

"Many commuters are at their breaking point."

How can I save on refueling?

Even if the prices seem high to many, if you fill up strategically, you can save a lot of money.

Because fuel prices fluctuate greatly throughout the day.

For July, the ADAC determined that the E10 and diesel cost twelve cents more in the morning than in the evening.

After that, fuel is most expensive around seven o'clock.

It was cheapest between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The ADAC has been calculating monthly average values ​​since 2015; the prices and differences may vary from region to region.

Various websites and apps provide up-to-date prices for each gas station.

The data comes from the market price office at the Federal Cartel Office, to which the gas stations have to report their prices.

BJÖRN HARTMANN, CORINNA MAIER

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-13

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