There isn’t much of a desire to fill tanks across borders, as it was a few years ago.
Photo courtesy of Chris Karaba
Pump operators said few drivers detour to fill their tanks with cheap fuel in Luxembourg after Germany cut fuel taxes to help consumers cope with rising energy prices. ..
One day last week, there was little practice of dozens of gas stations on the main street of Wasserbillig, a cross-border village with Germany.
Currently, the prices of gasoline and diesel in Luxembourg are 1.97 euros and 1.98 euros per liter, respectively, which is almost the same as in Germany. In some cases, gasoline can even be a few cents cheaper in the eastern part of Luxembourg.
“At this point, filling up with Luxembourg saves almost nothing,” he said when nearby Trier’s Ralph Seifert filled up the red convertible.
This slack is due to the gasoline sector hiring about 2,600 people, fuel taxes and pumps.
In February, the deregulation of Covid-19 revived fuel tourism, the mayors of the two border towns said, and the truck deviated from the agreed route and benefited from fuel prices. ..
However, when Luxembourg cut the price of one liter of fuel by 7.5 cents in April, the government signed a € 830 million countermeasure package to tackle the energy crisis agreed with employers and trade unions, resulting in 35 cents. Much less than the reduction. In Germany, it is set to last until August per liter.
The drop in sales at gas stations was particularly upsetting for business owners. “We’re not pretty busy in early June,” said Monique Hein, owner of the Martart gas station next to Wasserbillig.
According to a Luxemburger Wort survey, about half of the more than 2,000 respondents say they often leave their cars at home due to the significant rise in fuel prices. Some people now travel to Germany.
“Luxembourg patrons have been around for a few weeks, mainly from the Rosport and Echternach areas,” said Christina Hack, a gas station manager near Welschbillig, also in the border area.
Like other countries, Luxembourg has experienced sharp rises in fuel prices over the past four months, with traditionally cheap diesel surpassing gasoline, but living costs despite already high inflation. Is pushing up. According to the Eurostat, inflation continued to accelerate in Luxembourg and the rest of the euro area in May, with inflation reaching a record 8.1%, up from 7.4% in April in 19 euro-using countries.
Roman Hoffman, head of the Luxembourg petrol lobby, called on the government to come to the rescue of the sector and cut fuel taxes along Germany. “If this doesn’t happen, we risk even more losses in August than we do now,” he told RTL.
European natural gas prices soared this month after a fire at a large US export terminal threatened to wipe out deliveries to the market on the alert of Russia’s supply shortages due to the war in Ukraine.
Texas’ Freeport liquefied natural gas facility, which accounts for about one-fifth of all US fuel exports, will remain closed for at least three weeks. The United States sent nearly 75% of all LNG to Europe in the first four months of this year as the continent seeks to reduce Russia’s dependence on fuel.
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