Annual report of the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels – Bundeskartellamt launches ad-hoc examination of the mineral oil sector

With high prices and a rapidly changing market, the provision of immediate information for consumers via price information apps has become even more valuable. Some rules of thumb for saving money still apply. The Bundeskartellamt has today published its 2021 annual report on the work of its Market Transparency Unit for Fuels.

Current price development

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “The war in Ukraine and its con-sequences have led to a large number of upheavals in the fuel sector. We are closely monitoring these developments. Crude oil prices, sales prices of refineries and prices charged at petrol stations have diverged significantly over the past few weeks. We are now going to launch an ad-hoc sector inquiry with a clear focus on the refinery and wholesale level. In particular, we intend to shed a light on the reasons for the recent price and market developments. This will also create an important basis for the envisaged expansion of the tasks to be fulfilled by the Market Transparency Unit.”

The German Federal Government has recently proposed to expand the powers of the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels and its task to monitor the market in order to gain a clearer picture of all levels of the supply chain, especially in the refinery sector. In the future, the Market Transparency Unit is to collect data on the quanti-ties of fuels supplied by the petrol stations, in addition to price data. This would make it possible to better assess the competition conditions at the petrol station level.

Annual report of the Market Transparency Unit

Andreas Mundt: “Especially in the present situation where prices are very high, a few rules of thumb can help to save a lot of money. Consumers should avoid filling up at motorway petrol stations: Prices at petrol stations are high, but in most cases they are even around 25 cents higher at motorway petrol stations.
It is worthwhile for consumers to look for cheaper petrol stations and select these alternatives at specific times of the day. In the course of a day, prices in a town or region differ by around 20 cents/litre. This results in potential savings of 10 euros for a tank full of 50 litres.
Furthermore, prices are generally at their highest in the mornings between 5 and 8 a.m. and usually at their lowest in the evenings between 6 and 10 p.m."

In March, however, this pattern applied only to a limited extent due to high, continuous price increases which could not be offset by consumers visiting petrol stations in the evenings. Especially in such exceptional cases, it is very valuable to obtain prompt information via price information apps which also often indicate price developments and daily price cycles.

Some petrol stations are still significantly cheaper than others. If consumers have found such a petrol station in their area, this will usually still be a good choice in the future. Cheap petrol stations mostly stayed relatively cheap, expensive ones relatively expensive.

The Bundeskartellamt’s Market Transparency Unit for Fuels continuously monitors the trade in fuels, collects data on fuel prices from approx. 15,000 petrol stations across Germany and passes them on to authorised consumer information services. Motorists can call up the information from a number of information service provid-ers, both online and via price information apps. The new annual report mainly fo-cuses on the observations that could be made for 2021. However, the price increases of the last few weeks have also been included in the report up until shortly before the editorial deadline.

Key findings:

• Fuel prices have risen sharply. Whereas e.g. the price of E5 was still below 1.40 euro/litre in early 2021, it already amounted to 1.80 euro/litre shortly before the attack on Ukraine. Some time after the escalation, e.g. on 13 March 2022, E5 cost 2.26 euro/litre, diesel 2.31 euro/litre. Last Sunday, 10 April 2022, the prices were again at a lower level with 2.02 euro/litre for E5 and 1.99 euro/litre for diesel (see “Graphic charts on current fuel price devel-opments”).

• The price of diesel, in particular, has risen strongly over the last few weeks and often exceeded the price of E5 (see “Graphic charts on current fuel price developments”).

• The difference between crude oil prices and petrol station prices sharply in-creased at the start of the crisis in Ukraine. This in turn was caused in par-ticular by the increasing difference between the refineries’ sales prices and the crude oil prices (see “Graphic charts on current fuel price developments”).

• At one and the same petrol station price differences of 8-13 cents/litre can often be observed in the course of a day. A comparison of all petrol stations in one town shows that in most cases there are even price differences of up to 18-24 cents/litre a day (see graphic chart "Potential for savings”).

• Fuel prices are in most cases at their highest in the mornings (approx. 5 to 8 a.m.) and at their lowest in the evenings (approx. 6 to 10 p.m.), although there are also small price increases in the evenings. In between these periods prices often vary significantly. Towards the night time and during the night, especially those petrol stations which are already more expensive raise their prices again. (see graphic chart “Price differences in the course of a day in 2021”).

• Although prices at off-motorway service areas located near the motorway are often somewhat higher than those at other off-motorway petrol sta-tions (+2-3 cents/litre), a motorist refuelling at a motorway petrol station usually has to expect prices to be much higher. These are mostly around 25 cents/litre higher than the prices at off-motorway petrol stations (see graphic chart “Price differences between urban/rural areas, off-motorway service areas and motorways”). However, there are a few motorway petrol stations which in spite of their location do not charge considerably higher prices. These are easy to find with price information apps.

• There are only relatively minor price differences between the different German regions. Apart from a few more expensive or cheaper regions, the annual average price difference amounts to approx. 5 cents/litre.

• The price difference between E5 and E10 is approx. 6 cents/litre. Depending on the suitability of their vehicle, there are also significant potential savings here for motorists willing to consider changing to another petrol blend.

The full report including further information and illustrative examples is available at the Bundeskartellamt’s website (in German only).

Answers to some of the most common questions on the subject can be found in our FAQ (in German only).

In addition, you can also download the following graphic charts from our website:

– Graphic chart “Price differences in the course of a day in 2021”

– Graphic chart “Price differences between urban/rural areas, off-motorway service areas and motorways”

– Graphic chart “Potential for savings”

– “Graphic charts on current fuel price developments”

You can also find further information on the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels (partly in English) and a list of authorised consumer information services (in German only) on the website (partly in English).