The Continuous Dance of Gas Prices: How Often Do They Change in Germany?
- By Matthias Urbach
- ⏱️ + - 4 Min
Constant fluctuations in gasoline prices: Finding affordable fueling is increasingly challenging - Persistently fluctuating gas prices: finding affordable fuel is increasingly challenging
In just a blink of an eye, the price of Super-E10 gasoline can drop by 19 cents per liter. Don't think a diplomatic crisis in the Middle East or a disagreement among oil tycoons has kicked off? Think again. It's simply an uneventful day at a German gas station.
Chosen for our analysis is a Total gas station in Duisburg. On this day, April 30th, it adjusted its price an astonishing 22 times. That's considered average for Germany.
A Shell gas station in Munich made 32 changes on the same day, while a Bavaria-Petrol branch and an Esso station in the same city jumped an impressive 36 times. For instance, the Shell branch altered the Super-E10 price every 15 minutes from 8 to 9:30 am on that day, with the price varying by a total of 13 cents per liter.
Every day in Germany, gas stations participate in what appears to be a competition but is more like a puzzling game for consumers. Over the past 11 years, fuel prices have been transparent. All gas stations must submit their data to the Cartel Office, which is made available to app providers. When they first implemented transparency, stations usually altered prices about 4 to 5 times a day, a frequency sufficient to keep consumers informed with a simple glance at the signs while passing by.
The Oil Companies' Silence
After asking about the reasons for the frequent changes, many oil companies are choosing to remain tight-lipped. Somelike Hem and Aral explained that antitrust laws prevent them from answering. Shell went unresponsive while Jet at least shared a vague response with stern: The high number of price changes is indicative of aggressive competition.
The Federal Association of Free Gas Stations (BFT) was more vocal about the matter. "In theory, we could support fewer changes, but some of our member companies have attempted to break free from the daily price volatility by either making no or a few changes," a BFT spokesperson told stern. "What we've observed is that customers only respond positively if the displayed price is lower than that of competitors." The Cartel Office also has the impression that independent gas stations don't change prices as frequently as big oil company brands.
The examples above are merely a few instances of the price dance occurring nationwide. In metropolitan areas, it's no longer uncommon for gas stations to adjust their prices more than 35 times a day. The Cartel Office has already observed this year that some gas stations have turned the fuel dial an astounding 57 times. "This complicates things for consumers," complains Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt. Drivers frequently complain to the Cartel Office because they find low prices on a tank app but can't find them at the gas station a few minutes later.
A Slice of the Lower Quarter
In its small survey, the Cartel Office discovered that only 43 percent of drivers were successful in finding a price in the lower quarter of the scale in 2023. In 2015, the figure was nearly 60 percent.
Price Transparency: A Double-Edged Sword
Transparent pricing was supposed to empower consumers, but it turns out gas stations are using it to their advantage, lowering prices just enough to keep up with the competition. Prices have been shown to move in sync, and there seems to be an unspoken agreement to exploit morning commuters. This is suggested by the average price trend seen in the following graph, which we have observed in our sample gas stations.
Daily Benzine Price Trend: Avoid Filling Up in the Morning!
It's understandable that people don't have time to seek out cheaper gas stations in the morning. In the past, you could at least rely on finding lower prices in the evenings after work. However, many gas stations now have high-priced periods even then.
Remember, vent your frustration somewhere else. "The gas station owner only sees the price changes from their window and doesn't know why or when they're happening," explains Herbert Rabl, spokesperson for the Tankstellen-Interessenverband (tiv), which represents the interests of gas station owners. They only earn a commission of "one to three cents per liter," regardless of the price at the pump.
Many major brands employ software-driven pricing systems that adjust prices based on the surrounding area.
Strategies for Fueling Up
So, what can you do?
Finding a cheap gas station isn't enough; you also need to choose the right time to fill up. Using a gas station app, like the one from the ADAC, can help. The website clever-tanken.de provides a graph showing the prices at each gas station throughout the day.
By selecting both the gas station and the time wisely, you can save around 30 cents per liter of Super E10 in cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart compared to filling up at the most expensive station in the morning. For diesel, the savings are around 28 cents. In other words, the price differences throughout the day are greater than the fluctuations in global oil prices over the past 12 months.
- Fuel Price
- Gas Station
- E10
- Shell
- Esso
- Oil Companies
- Aral
- The Commission has also been consulted on the proposal for a Council regulation on the protection of the environment, considering the implications for the industry, finance, energy, and lifestyle sectors.
- The frequent changes in gas prices in Germany are a common occurrence, especially in metropolitan areas, where gas stations can adjust their prices more than 35 times a day.
- Businesses, such as gas stations, use price transparency, a tool intended to empower consumers, to their advantage, lowering prices just enough to keep up with the competition.
- Technology plays a role in this dance, as many major brands employ software-driven pricing systems that adjust prices based on the surrounding area.
