Fuel prices in Germany reached new highs over the weekend. The average price of Super E10 petrol, the country’s most widely used gasoline, rose to €2.273 per liter on Sunday, an increase of 1.7 cents compared with Friday.
Diesel prices rose more sharply
The price of diesel rose by 3.5 cents over the same period to reach €2.404 per liter. Fuel price increases have thus become particularly pronounced over the past two weeks.
Compared with levels on August 30, Super E10 was selling for approximately 12 cents less, while diesel was about 20 cents cheaper.
Risks to oil supplies increased
The deepening crisis and mutual retaliatory actions in the Middle East caused crude oil prices to start the new week higher. A meeting of foreign ministers planned in Oman to resolve the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz between the Gulf states and Iran was postponed at the last minute.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline was temporarily shut down following drone attacks. After this development put 4% of global oil supplies at risk, the price of Brent crude approached $108 per barrel.
Another reason for the price pressure in Germany was the record-low water level in the Rhine River. This disrupted tanker transport and increased shipping costs.
Government has no new discount planned
The rise in fuel prices increased expectations that drivers would receive new financial support or tax cuts. However, the German government announced that it was not planning a new fuel-price reduction.
The previous reduction provided relief of 16.7 cents per liter and cost the budget approximately €1.6 billion. The government, which is running a budget deficit because of broad investment and defense packages financed through borrowing, is not inclined to introduce a new tax cut.
Driven by rising energy and raw material prices, inflation in Germany also rose again in August, reaching 2.9%.
