German gov’t: Fuel stations can only raise prices once daily

Germany is to follow Austria in regulating daily fuel price rises amid US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Lebanon, and wider conflict in the Middle East.

German gov’t to regulate petrol and diesel price rises

The German government has announced that fuel stations in the country will only be permitted to raise fuel prices once per day, but it is yet unclear from when the new rules will apply. Diesel prices currently sit at over two euros per litre.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin on March 11, German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) said the Federal Cartel Office, Germany’s national competition regulator, intended to counter the “rocket and feather effect”.

"Fuel prices rise amid higher crude oil costs extremely quickly, the rocket, and then sink again amid falling costs only very slowly, the feather. We want to break through this mechanism," Reiche explained. There will be no limit on how often fuel stations can reduce their prices.

Reiche said the Cartel Office would amend existing cartel laws and the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition government would seek to move a bill through parliament quickly.

Why have attacks on Iran and Lebanon driven up oil prices?

Since February 28, when the US and Israeli militaries began joint attacks on Iran and Lebanon, oil prices have risen to nearly 120 US dollars (around 104 euros) per barrel, before falling to around 100 USD per barrel on March 12. Crude prices sit at 87 USD per barrel, around 20 percent higher than before the attacks began.

The attacks have driven up prices because the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping pathway for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, has been closed for over a week. This prompted the International Energy Agency (IEA) to call on member countries to release 400 million barrels of oil from their national reserves.

"We will meet this request and do our part, because Germany stands behind the most important tenet of the IEA, collectivity, solidarity,” Reiche told the press conference on March 11. Germany is to contribute 2,4 million metric tonnes of oil.

Provisional death toll and casualty figures released

After more than a week of strikes in Iran and Lebanon, the death toll and casualty figures remain unclear. According to reports from AFP and Reuters, the Iranian Red Crescent has cited a provisional death toll of 1.250 people. This was given provisionally last week and could now be considerably higher.

On March 11, the Lebanese government reported a death toll of 634 people, including 91 children. Around 1.500 people have been wounded, and over 816.000 have registered themselves as displaced on a website affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs.