Left Party calls for emergency plan against rising fuel prices after drone attack

After the drone attack on Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline, the co-federal chairwoman of the Left Party, Ines Schwerdtner, is calling for government measures to counter the expected further rise in fuel prices. The federal government now needs a concrete emergency plan against “the impending price shock,” said Schwerdtner. Chancellor Merz should not wait again until gasoline and diesel become "unaffordable" before distributing billions in aid, which in the end also secures the profits of the energy companies.

The excess profits that oil companies put into their pockets as a result of crises must be skimmed off and people with small and medium incomes must be specifically relieved, said Schwerdtner. Rising oil prices would particularly affect people who rely on their cars in everyday life. The price increase also reaches the supermarket checkout through higher costs for transport, production and heating. There needs to be a cap on profit margins so that companies cannot sell fuels far above their procurement costs.

Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its key east-west pipeline after a drone attack, calling it a precautionary measure. The approximately 1,200 kilometer long pipeline runs across the Arabian Peninsula. It allows the world's largest crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping traffic in the strait has come to an almost complete standstill because of the six-month-long war between the United States and Iran. The closure of the pipeline could push oil prices further higher.