Germans storm Polish stations. This is the result of fuel price increases

The Germans are not happy. On Wednesday morning, in the so-called During the morning price peak, the average price per liter of fuel across the country exceeded two euros. It was enough to go to the nearest gas station, in my case it was the station in Unna (North Rhine-Westphalia), to hear what our western neighbors think about these increases. And their thoughts are definitely unflattering.

– Even though we import the least crude oil from the Middle East conflict region, we are about to see fuel increases. Yesterday I filled up and paid 1.91 euros for a liter of super E5, and today a liter is over 2 euros. It’s irritating, says Tobias, a resident of Unna, embittered.

The German press encourages people to refuel in Poland

German media, especially regional ones, report on a real attack on Polish gas stations. Those who can, run east. The Saxon “Saechsische Zeitung” writes that it is currently profitable to refuel on the Polish side.

– This is not unusual in the border region, where prices at gas stations in Poland are traditionally lower than in Germany. However, for Tuesday at noon, there was a lot of traffic at the Carrefour gas station in Zgorzelec – we read in the regional edition of the newspaper from Görlitz.

According to the daily, at almost every pump there was a car with German registration.

Polish fuels cheaper

In Germany, gasoline and diesel prices increased significantly at the beginning of the year. The reason is the introduction of a fee for CO₂ emissions from fuels, effective from 2021, which is gradually increasing. This year, the fee is up to EUR 65 per tonne of CO₂.

– However, in Poland, fuel prices depend to a greater extent on energy tax and VAT, and to a lesser extent on the CO₂ emission tax. This situation will probably change because from 2027/28 it is planned to introduce a uniform fee for CO₂ emissions throughout the EU – writes “Saechsische Zeitung”.

It hasn’t been this expensive for years

According to information from “Deutsche Welle”, on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:15 The German automobile club ADAC has set the average fuel price in Germany at EUR 2,054 per liter. Prices usually drop during the day – at 8:30 the average price was already 1,991 euros. On normal days, gas and diesel are typically more than 10 cents more expensive in the morning than in the evening, but recent rapid increases have partially blunted this trend.

The price of super E10 petrol in Germany also increased and was EUR 1,995 per liter in the morning peak. However, the increase in diesel prices was more pronounced, which shows its greater sensitivity to crisis situations.

According to the newspaper, analyzing current data, a further increase in the average daily fuel price can be expected. The last time diesel in Germany exceeded the level of EUR 2 per liter was in November 2022.