Gasoline prices in Germany rose sharply in January compared with December. A report released by the ADAC on Tuesday shows that the average cost of one litre of Super E10 was 1.739 €, an increase of 8.6 cents. Diesel gained an even larger 9.4‑cent lift, averaging 1.692 € per litre. Consequently diesel was only 4.7 cents cheaper than Super E10, even though the tax applied to diesel is roughly 20 cents lower.
The chief driver behind the rise was the escalation of crude‑oil prices. Brent crude climbed from just below 60 US $ at the start of the month to over 70 US $ by month‑end. A stronger euro against the dollar helped to dampen some of the impact of the higher oil cost. The ADAC still criticised the petrol prices, calling them too high around the turn of the year despite comparatively moderate freight‑oil prices.
The peak price day for gasoline was 15 January, when Super E10 fetched 1.749 € per litre. The lowest single‑day price occurred on 1 January at 1.709 € per litre. For diesel, the most expensive day was 31 January, with a cost of 1.718 € per litre; the lowest price was also on 1 January, at an average of 1.658 € per litre.
