Prices like this at the pump were last seen during the Corona crisis around five years ago: In Germany, prices per liter of gasoline at the first gas stations climbed to two euros on Tuesday. The Market reaction to the Iran war This happened very quickly, even though the price of oil is currently under $100 per barrel ($83.22, as of Tuesday 1:45 p.m.). “The supply situation cannot have an impact on prices that quickly. This is a panicked reaction. The prices at the gas stations are now decoupled from the crude oil prices,” says Michael Haberland from the automobile club “Mobil in Germany” angrily.

Auto club calls for new fuel price cap

But one thing is clear: the longer the crisis in the Gulf lasts, the higher gasoline prices will rise. Experts believe a mark of 2.60 euros per liter is possible. That would be significantly more than at the height of the Corona energy crisis.

There is already cautious support in the CDU for price-dampening measures. “I don’t want to rule anything out,” said Union Parliamentary Secretary Steffen Bilger to “Bild”. The situation will be monitored and then discussed further with the coalition partner SPD, it was said from Berlin. SPD parliamentary group vice-president Esra Limbacher criticized the oil companies for passing on price increases to drivers “prematurely”.

However, politics itself also repeatedly causes jumps at the pump. It was only at the beginning of the year that German climate policy caused a significant increase because the CO2 tax was increased again. In addition to mineral oil tax, eco-tax and VAT, it means that refueling in Germany is generally expensive compared to other European countries.

German climate policy is making fuel even more expensive

In an interview with FOCUS online, Michael Haberland is calling on politicians to reintroduce the fuel price cap and has one to do so petition started. The price brake was activated from June to August 2022 by the traffic light coalition at the time in order to at least somewhat curb energy costs for millions of drivers. In individual cases this amounted to between 17 and 35 cents for a liter of diesel and petrol. “In addition, one should generally think about suspending the controversial CO2 tax. This costs drivers 15.7 and 20 cents for petrol and diesel. It would be time to collect this model again,” continued Haberland. The costs of mobility for families, commuters, craftsmen and freight transport should not be overstated.