Shortly before the introduction of the tank discount, the gas stations screw up the prices. The accusation quickly arose: the mineral oil companies are filling their pockets. FOCUS Online asked the largest fuel suppliers.
Many motorists are looking forward to June 1st, 2022. The fuel should then be cheaper. With the tank discount, the federal government wants to relieve the citizens in view of a high inflation rate.
But days before, the mineral oil companies screwed up the prices.
Read more here: Does the tank discount fizzle out? – Graphic exposes brazen rip-off! Gas stations raise prices at the start
And so on Tuesday morning drivers in Cologne had to pay up to 2.28 euros for a liter of Super. This has almost reached the price level that prevailed shortly after the beginning of the Ukraine war. Katrin van Randenborgh from ADAC told RTL/ntv on Tuesday morning: “Neither the price of crude oil nor the dollar justify fuel prices at this level. In this respect, cash is obviously being made here.”
Twitter users are also outraged and accuse the oil companies of greed for profit. Nicolas Karsten from “Friday for Future” writes: “The FDP
Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) reacted to the criticism and tweeted: “[…] The state should not benefit from the high fuel price. That the
Why are prices being increased just before the relief? FOCUS Online asked the largest oil companies.
At the request of FOCUS Online, BP (which operates the Aral gas stations) writes that the questions cannot be answered for (antitrust) legal reasons.
There are currently no replies from the Shell, Philipps 66 (Jet gas stations), Eni (Agip gas stations) groups.
The interest group “en2x” answers for TOTAL Energies, Exxon Mobil, Orlen Germany. The spokesman confirms that increased prices for oil were passed on to the gas station operators:
“We understand that gas station prices are being looked at very closely right now. In recent weeks there have been increased shortages in the global gasoline market, starting in the US where the start of the summer driving season is being met with low inventories at refineries and tank farms. This has an impact on petrol prices worldwide and thus also in Germany. In Germany, this coincides with the time shortly before the start of the energy tax cut.”
Means: Because more people are driving cars in the USA because of the summer, prices are rising in Germany. Summer vacation is between June and September in the northern US states, but between May and August in the southern states.
According to the ADAC, prices in Germany also rose in a similar period last year – but only minimally.
In May 2021, the price was 1.48 euros for a liter of Super E10. In June 2021 then 1.50 euros.
Currently, however, the price of petrol has risen by 20 cents within days. But it is also a fact that last year’s prices were exposed to different effects than this year.
Despite the price increase, the interest group “en2X” assumes “that the energy tax reduction will be passed on to motorists due to the intense competition between petrol stations.”
According to the spokesman, the drivers have to be patient. Fuel is still stored at the petrol stations, which is subject to the previous, higher tax rate. This means that the fuel discount will probably not be noticeable at the pumps until days after the start. Conversely, since the tank discount is granted for three months, the fuel prices should also be lower until the beginning of September, since the filling stations should then still have cheap gasoline and diesel available.
