Long queues at the gas stations have apparently largely failed to materialise, and there were only bottlenecks at a few stations: the temporary reduction in the energy tax on fuel made gasoline and diesel significantly cheaper at most gas stations in Germany on Wednesday.

Christian Siedenbiedel

Editor in Business.

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In the early hours of the morning, a random sample of ADAC data from 400 petrol stations in Munich, Berlin and Hamburg revealed that the prices for Super E10 had mostly fallen below EUR 1.90 per liter.

Later there was a more detailed analysis of the automobile club: On Wednesday at 10 a.m., a liter of Super E10 cost 1.88 euros on average across Germany – the previous day at the same time it had been 2.18 euros.

So the price fell by 30 cents.

Diesel became cheaper by 14 cents, from 2.08 euros to 1.94 euros per liter.

Some gas stations still had remaining stocks

That was a quicker reaction than many had expected: both petrol station associations and individual tenants had previously said that it could possibly take until the end of the week before the tax cut would be passed on because many providers would have bought the petrol with higher taxes and didn't want to sell cheaper now.

However, this calculation does not seem to have worked.

Although there were individual gas stations that wanted more than 1.90 euros or 2 euros per liter of Super E10 on Wednesday, the new prices seem to have prevailed relatively quickly.

If the tax had been passed on in full, however, the price of Super E10 would have had to drop by 35.2 cents and that of diesel by 16.7 cents per liter.

The economist Monika Schnitzer, who has dealt with the phenomenon of the passing on of such tax changes, said: We have to wait and see how things develop, but the first figures look like a “clear, if not complete” transfer of the tax cut.

Manuel Frondel, petrol specialist from the RWI research institute in Essen, said: "The fact that the majority of petrol stations already reduced their prices sharply on Wednesday is probably primarily a result of public attention." The Federal Cartel Office had announced that it wanted to monitor the changeover very closely.

However, prices had risen conspicuously before the date of the tax cut.

"Immediately before the start of the temporary tank discount decided by the federal government, the prices for both types of fuel rose again noticeably," said Steffen Bock from the Clever Tanken internet portal.

This had sparked speculation that the gas station chains wanted to raise prices before the tax cut to at least make it look like there was a great deal of relief for drivers.

The ADAC has calculated that in the week before the tax cut, the price of Super E10 rose by 6.1 cents and that of diesel by 5 cents per liter.

On the day immediately before the tax cut, the price for Super E10 then reached its high for the month.

The auto club says the recent rise in fuel prices was justified by the rise in crude oil prices;

however, the price of petrol had already been "massively inflated" by around 20 cents per liter.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, the price of crude oil also fell sharply - among other things, after a report that the oil cartel OPEC plus was considering excluding Russia from its subsidy agreement.

Motorists had a mixed reaction.

Some complained on the short message service Twitter that fuel prices had been raised so much before the date.

Others reported that they had now filled up for 1.75 euros per liter, which was a relief.

Jürgen Ziegner from the central association of the petrol station trade said that the situation at the petrol stations was more relaxed than many - including himself - had previously thought.

More was filled up, but not to an exceptional extent: "The only vacancies I heard of were at a few free gas stations in Berlin."

The FDP politician Johannes Vogel had predicted in a talk show that the fuel price would fall below 2 euros due to the tank discount.

This seems to be largely confirmed.

However, the loss of tax revenue that was accepted would have suggested a sharper drop in prices.

Commerzbank economist Jörg Krämer believes that thanks to the tank discount and 9-euro ticket, the inflation rate will now be almost a percentage point lower for three months than without it: "I expect," said Krämer, "that the inflation rate of 7.9 percent in the May falls to 7.1 percent in June, I expect 7 percent for July and August – and then an increase to 8.1 percent for September.”