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Fuel is getting cheaper in Germany. But that doesn’t take away people’s worries about inflation and world events. A report by «ennet der Grenz».
One car after another is lined up at the gas station in the German village of Öhningen, just a few meters from the Swiss border. Until recently, petrol prices were similar on both sides of the border. As soon as he has used up the old stock, he can lower the price by 15 cents, says the owner of the family business, Peter Dietrich – and puts his hands in the pockets of his blue overalls.
Dietrich therefore expects more sales – because of the tank customers from Switzerland. “However, the gas stations on the German side along the border will probably be temporarily overloaded,” believes Dietrich.
Gas stations at the stop
Exactly in the three holiday months, which are high in sales anyway, Swiss customers are added because of the cheaper fuel. A Herculean task for the family business on the other side of the border.
The tanker trucks already have to wait six hours at the refinery before they are loaded, says Dietrich. And at some point the 60 cubic meters of fuel in his gas station were just used up.
In autumn, petrol will become more expensive again
But there’s still enough fuel for everyone. At pillar three, a woman has just poured gasoline into her small car for exactly 20 euros. Her gaze goes to the amount of fuel she received for it: “It’s devastating.”
But she absolutely needed petrol, otherwise she would have waited a few more days – until the reduction took effect. She describes the restriction to three months for the reduction as “ridiculous”. Because in autumn the price situation would be just as bad as it is now.
Politicians must finally cap or stop speculation on energy or food.
This is the opinion of many drivers in the border region. Whether at the gas station in Konstanz, Kreuzlingen or Tägerwilen: the German government’s measure does not earn any praise.
Above all, the fact that oil companies and refineries have been earning more per liter of fuel since the end of February than before is criticized. And the petrol station operator Dietrich from Öhningen describes the short-term tax cut, which is limited to three months, as a “drop in the bucket”.
Politicians must change something in the long term, namely on the stock exchanges, he believes: “Speculation on energy or food must finally be capped or prevented by politicians.”
High petrol prices not the biggest problem
And you’re in the middle of a conversation about geopolitics, oil multinationals or inflation. A man with a family bus points to the purchases in the back seat. He laments the price of a kilogram of salt, which has increased by 50 percent to 30 cents. “Such price increases hurt a lot more than the five cents on the diesel price,” he says.
People don’t seem to be indifferent to the price of fuel, after all many cross the border when a liter is a little cheaper here or there. But the big political and economic problems really give people a headache.