Gasoline and diesel prices rose an average of 16 cents per gallon in June at military pumps and coupon outlets in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.
According to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the hike mirrors May’s skyrocketing prices in the United States, to which the military prices in the three countries are tied.
In Britain, super unleaded and super-plus unleaded now cost $2.08 per gallon; diesel costs $1.85.
In Germany, normal unleaded rose to $2.07 per gallon, super unleaded to $2.20 and super-plus unleaded to $2.30. Diesel sells for $1.91.
In the Netherlands, super unleaded costs $2.28 for a gallon, super-plus unleaded is $2.50 and diesel is $1.99.
Nonetheless, the exchange prices still undersold those of local retailers. In the Netherlands, for example, super unleaded costs $6.08 per gallon, according to International Road Transport Union figures.
“That really doesn’t make the pain any less,” said Maj. Dave Accetta, a spokesman for the exchange service in Europe. “But what we want people to understand is that there’s not really a lot AAFES can do about that because the prices have gone up so high in the States.”
It could get worse. Terrorists in Saudi Arabia killed 22 people — mostly foreigners — over the weekend in what authorities have called an attack on the oil industry. The ensuing financial panic sent U.S. oil prices up by $1.47 per barrel on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The Energy Department previously predicted that higher crude output from Saudi Arabia could well have capped and even lowered runaway prices. A May 26 report issued by the department’s Energy Information Administration said regular gas prices had reached $2.06 per gallon in the States — the highest price for regular the EIA has recorded. Things were even worse on the West Coast, where prices hit $2.29, nearly 60 cents more than during the same period of the previous year. This week’s EIA report had yet to be released by press time.
Not everyone is in for immediate price pangs, however. Gas prices at U.S. bases in the Azores and Turkey are negotiated annually. Those prices are unaffected by this announcement. The U.S. Navy handles distribution in Italy and Spain, where prices were recently raised by about 28 cents a gallon — to around $1.98 per gallon — beginning this month.
