Gasoline goes up by an average of 25 cents and diesel by 10 cents: drivers will feel the end of the tank discount directly in the morning. The current price level at the pumps does not arouse enthusiasm at the ADAC. However, the club is not crying after the discount.
It was clear that fuel would become more expensive - it was just not certain how much and how quickly prices would rise after the end of the tank discount. Now motorists have certainty: According to an initial assessment by the ADAC, premium petrol of the E10 variety cost around 25 cents more than the day before on average nationwide around 9 a.m. today. With diesel, there was a plus of about 10 cents.
The Federal Cartel Office also noted a sharp rise in prices: "After the tax cut expired, prices at gas stations initially rose significantly on average, but then fell again somewhat," said the head of the authority, Andreas Mundt, to the "Rheinische Post". "In the early hours of the morning, E5 was an average of 28 cents and diesel an average of 12 cents more expensive than the same time the previous day, in the early afternoon this increase fell back somewhat to around 22 (E5) and 8 cents (diesel)." Mundt advised consumers: "Some gas stations have only increased their prices by a few cents compared to the previous day - it's worth visiting them specifically."
In the past two weeks, fuel prices have already risen significantly again. On Wednesday, the last day of the fuel tax reduction known as the tank discount, a liter of E10 cost an average of 1.792 euros, according to ADAC, and a liter of diesel 2.086 euros. According to the information, this was the highest value in August. With the tank discount, the federal government had reduced the energy tax for three months to the minimum permitted by the EU. Mathematically, the price of the Super E10 could increase by 35 cents and that of diesel by 17 cents as a result of the repeal.
The introduction of the fuel discount came under the impression of an all-time high in petrol and diesel prices. With the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, they had skyrocketed within a few days. On March 11, a liter of diesel cost 2.321 euros - the record that has been in effect ever since. For E10, the previous high of 2.203 was reached a few days later on March 14th.
After these record values, the situation eased again somewhat, but prices only fell permanently below 2 euros per liter after the tax cut came into effect on June 1st. A long-lasting descent followed, on August 12 the price for Super E10 even fell to 1.691 euros - the lowest value since January. But after that, the price of petrol and diesel went up again, until the price jump on September 1st.
From the ADAC point of view, there is no basis for this recent price increase, said ADAC spokeswoman Katrin van Randenborgh. The pricing of the corporations had repeatedly triggered discussions since March - above all, whether the corporations really pass on the tax cut to the customers. Even at the end of the discount, opinions continue to differ.
"The energy tax cut has been widely passed on," said Adrian Willig, chief executive of the Fuel and Energy trade association (EN2X), which includes companies such as BP, Shell, Totalenergies and Eni. "The reasons for current price increases are increased demand, tight capacities in refineries and logistical challenges," Willig continued. The expert Manuel Frondel from the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research sees it similarly: The discount was "essentially" passed on, he said - although special factors such as the low water in the Rhine then reduced its effect again.
The ADAC sees it differently: "In the overall balance, we find that the tax reduction has not fully reached the consumer," said Jürgen Albrecht, the club's fuel price expert. "In view of the low taxation and the recently low oil price, that was very adequate for the industry, as you can see from the quarterly figures of the large corporations and the record margins of the refineries."
EN2X, on the other hand, maintains that the wholesale prices, not the crude oil prices, are decisive for the price development at the gas stations. Oil prices have fallen significantly since Tuesday. At noon today, a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent cost 93.54 US dollars. That was $2.10 less than the day before. Normally, gas and oil prices move relatively similarly, but currently they are largely decoupled. "But cars don't fill up with oil. The decisive factor is the product price for petrol," emphasized a spokesman for EN2X.
The price of oil is usually the most important driver of changes in fuel prices. However, it only accounts for part of the costs at the pump. Taxation and distribution costs also determine fuel prices. However, the Bundeskartellamt is also very critical of pricing on the fuel market: There are only relatively few companies there, and in many cases they are active from the borehole to the gas station, which gives them many options when it comes to pricing, said Andreas Mundt, President of the competition authority Tuesday. "We will continue to monitor price movements closely. At the same time, we are conducting a comprehensive investigation at the refinery and wholesale level," Mundt also told the "Rheinische Post".
As early as March, the cartel office announced that it would take a closer look at the industry as a whole - especially with a view to what happens between crude oil purchases and gas station sales. The ADAC expressly welcomes this: "We urgently need more transparency," said fuel price expert Albrecht.
Despite significantly increasing prices - unlike the 9-euro ticket - there is no real pain of parting with the tank discount. Even the ADAC does not call for a continuation, on the contrary. That would be the wrong signal in times of scarce fuel and good reasons for saving fuel, they said.
Sectors such as logistics, which suffer from generally high energy prices, also hardly shed a tear after the discount. "The tank discount didn't help us as an industry," said Dirk Engelhardt, spokesman for the board of directors at the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL). The diesel prices, which are now rising again, are of course an additional burden that companies can hardly compensate for. "In the end, consumers will have to pay higher prices."
