Gas Stations Playing the Price Change Game: What Does This Mean for Customers?
- Unveiled by Matthias Urbach
- 4 Min
Frequent Petrol Station Price Changes: Prices Alter Every Quarter Hour - Gas prices are being updated every quarter-hour at gas stations.
The price for Super-E10 gasoline plunges by 19 cents per liter in just a few hours. Did a diplomatic breakthrough occur in the Middle East? Not likely. Did the oil tycoons of OPEC perhaps call it quits? Not at all. It was just a normal day at a typical gas station in Germany.
In this instance, we examine a Total gas station in Duisburg. On April 30th, it modified its price no fewer than 22 times, which is average for Germany. A Shell gas station in Munich adjusted its price an impressive 32 times that day. A Bavaria-Petrol outlet and an Esso station, also in Munich, even updated their prices 36 times. The Shell station, for example, altered the Super-E10 price every 15 minutes between eight and nine-thirty in the morning. The price fluctuated by a total of 13 cents per liter that day, 14 cents at Bavaria-Petrol, and 16 cents at Esso.
Day in, day out, German gas stations put on a dance of deceit that resembles competition but functions more like a game of confusion for consumers. For a full eleven and a half years, prices at gas stations in Germany have been transparent. All stations are required to submit their data to the cartel office, which then shares this data with app providers. At the onset, gas stations modified their prices an average of four to five times each day. It was convenient enough to simply glance at the signs en route home to stay informed.
The Oil Conglomerates Clam Up
Inquired about the reasons for the frequent changes, many mineral oil companies clam up. Some such as Hem and Aral blamed cartel law for their silence (this is not entirely accurate). Shell remained completely silent. Jet at least responded to stern, though vaguely: "The high number of price changes is a reflection of fierce competition."
The Federal Association of Free Gas Stations (BFT) was more forthcoming. "In principle, we could get by with fewer price changes, and some of our member companies have attempted to decouple from daily price fluctuations by not making any or only a few price changes," a BFT representative shared with stern. "Research has shown that customers only reward such behavior if the displayed price is lower than that of the competition." The cartel office also notes that independent gas stations do not change their prices as frequently as the major brands of oil companies.
The aforementioned instances are nothing more than a drop in the ocean. In urban areas, it is no longer uncommon for gas stations to change their prices more than 35 times per day. The cartel office has already seen individual gas stations rotate their pumps 57 times this year. "This makes it more difficult for consumers to navigate," complains cartel office president Andreas Mundt. Often, drivers complain to the cartel office because they discover lower prices in a tank app that they can no longer find a few minutes later at the gas station.
Fewer Than Half of Consumers Capitalize on Cheap Gas Prices
The cartel office sponsored a small study to determine when drivers typically refuel: According to this, only 43 percent were able to secure a price in the lower quarter of the price scale in 2023. In 2015, it was still almost 60 percent.
Transparency in pricing should theoretically aid consumers. However, it seems that gas stations can also employ this transparency to reduce their prices just enough. This has resulted in rather synchronized price developments. It also appears that there is an unspoken agreement to exploit consumers who need to fill up in the morning. This is suggested by the average price trend presented in the following chart, which we have also observed in our sample of gas stations.
Daily Benzine Price Trend: Never Fill Up in the Morning!
It's also logical that people don't have the time in the morning to seek out a gas station that's off their route to work. While a few years ago you could be fairly certain to find a lower price at least in the evening after work, many gas stations now have high-priced phases even then.
Important: Motorists should refrain from venting their frustrations about the price confusion on the gas station attendant. "The gas station owner often looks out the window and sees that their prices are changing - and doesn't know why or when," explains Herbert Rabl, spokesperson for the Tankstellen-Interessenverband tiv, which represents the interests of the owners. They only receive a commission of "one to three cents per liter" - regardless of the price at the pump.
Because the major brands often use software-supported pricing systems that automatically react to the environment of a gas station and adjust the prices. It's tricky to predict when prices will drop, but using a tank app, such as one from the ADAC, or monitoring gas prices at clever-tanken.de can be helpful. Whoever chooses both the gas station and the time wisely currently saves around 30 cents less for Super E10 in big cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart than if they filled up at the most expensive gas station in the morning at 7 am. For diesel, it's around 28 cents less. In other words, on any given day, the prices differ more in absolute terms than the world's oil markets have moved the oil price in the past twelve 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 promoting transparency in fuel pricing within the EU, as fluctuation in prices due to daily games at gas stations continues to confuse consumers across countries.
- OPEC member states, recognizing the importance of sports in Bavaria, have pledged support to local sports programs and initiatives, aiming to create opportunities for refuelling community engagement and social development.
- In light of the ongoing price fluctuations at gas stations and the impact it has on consumers, some drivers in Bavaria have taken matters into their own hands, forming a local group called 'Gas-Price-Watch' to ensure fair pricing when refuelling and provide updates to other drivers in the region.
