“Don’t want to stand at the checkout”: Drivers are threatened with the next shock when refueling from January

The year is coming to an end and with it the fuel discount. According to a gas station operator, its expiry will not be the only major burden for drivers. He fears that customers in his stores will be in a pretty bad mood. He sees no solution in the fuel price cap.

For just under two months, drivers in Germany will benefit from the fuel discount, which makes fuel up to 17 cents cheaper. An extension of the measure is not planned. If you want to save one last time, you should go to the gas pump again before 12 p.m. on December 31st at the latest. From the new year onwards, there is a risk of further burdens.

Carsten Müller from the Federal Association of Independent Gas Stations points out in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ) that the greenhouse gas reduction rate will also increase. Behind this is a regulation that obliges companies to reduce CO2 emissions when selling fuels. “That amounts to between seven and ten cents per liter of fuel,” says Müller.

Added together, gasoline and diesel could be around 25 cents more expensive. "And if you then increase ten cents at twelve o'clock, we're easily at 35 to 40 cents more per liter. That's the moment when I don't want to stand at the gas station checkout," says Müller.

Dispute over the fuel price cap

A glimmer of hope on the horizon for drivers is the fuel price cap. The CDU and SPD have decided to introduce it by January 1st at the latest. However, Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche is actually against it and is planning high hurdles. The Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger called Reiche's proposal in the "Tagesspiegel" a "fuel price prevention law".

Müller considers the fuel price cap to be “sheer populism.” He points to major differences in the purchase of fuel. In Cologne this is six to 15 cents more expensive than in the cheaper regions of Germany. The reason: the Rhine, where shipping traffic is still restricted due to the lack of rain and low water levels.

"If you now put a price cap across the entire Federal Republic, the operators in my region will almost go bankrupt, while their colleagues in other regions can't stop laughing," says Müller to the SZ. "You could introduce several price caps. But where do you draw the line? And how high do you set the cap? If it's too low, every importer and every refinery will ship the goods to more lucrative markets. If it's too high, it loses its control effect and becomes a benchmark price. Then fuel would be more expensive than it should be."

If you want to avoid the high prices completely, you can switch to an electric vehicle. Not using your car can also be a solution. Müller reports six percent less sales. "We notice that people drive more consciously and leave their cars parked sometimes, even on weekends."