Drivers in Europe will soon be paying less at the AAFES pumps, but much more than their military counterparts in the Pacific.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service announced Friday that the price for a gallon of gas will fall about four cents in Germany, six cents in the Netherlands and two cents in the United Kingdom.
But the latest reductions are a drop in the tank compared with AAFES prices in Japan, where fuel costs fell nearly 25 cents a gallon.
AAFES pump prices are based on the U.S. Energy Department’s four-week average of gas prices across the United States, according to an AAFES-Europe news release.
So even though gas prices in the States dropped about 11 cents between May 2 and May 23, the four-week average for each grade was:
regular unleaded, $2.177;midgrade (or super unleaded), $2.278;premium (or super plus), $2.372;diesel, $2.209.To compute the prices at stations in Europe, AAFES adds a roughly 18-cent dispensing cost to the Energy Department average, according to Judd Anstey, AAFES spokesman in Dallas.
Therefore, as of June 1, a gallon of super unleaded gas in Germany will cost $2.458. In the United Kingdom, the price will be $2.404, while in the Netherlands, it will be $2.458.
The prices are different because the dispensing costs vary from country to country, Anstey wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.
Either way, prices in Europe will be about 30 cents more a gallon than in Japan and Okinawa, due to a change in the Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and Japan.
Under the new guidelines, government of Japan funds were made available to AAFES customers, meaning lower gas prices, Anstey wrote.
To calculate gas prices in Japan, AAFES is taking the four-week Energy Department average, adding on dispensing costs and then lowering it 25 cents a gallon.
AAFES is one of a number of organizations receiving the Government of Japan funding, Anstey wrote. Others include installation MWR programs.
“In the case of AAFES, the funds are used in a variety of ways to improve the quality of life for servicemembers and families in Japan and Okinawa,” he wrote. “AAFES’ recent decision to change the way in which a discount on gas is provided is a re-distribution of existing funds.”
However, the SOFAs in Europe do not authorize such funds, Anstey wrote.
And even though AAFES customers in Europe are spending more than those in Japan, buying gas on base is still cheaper than buying it off base, pointed out Patricia Ward, a family member from Warner Barracks in Bamberg.
“At least we don’t have to pay for gas off post,” she said. “A friend of mine went to a gas station off post and got a quarter of a tank for 25 euros,” or about $32.30.
For Suzie Anderson, another Warner Barracks family member, any drop is appreciated.
“I think it’s great that it’s going down,” Anderson said. “People are starting to take trips and go on vacation, and every little bit will help.”
And despite a big drop in the price of discount coupons that U.S. troops can use at Italian gas stations, those servicemembers are still paying about 15 cents more a gallon than drivers using AAFES coupons at German gas stations.
Officials for the Navy Exchange Service, which runs the gas coupon program in Italy, said the price of a 100-liter book of unleaded regular gas will drop from $71 to $66 — or a 19-cent-a-gallon drop to $2.498.
The Navy manages the gasoline program for all military services in Italy, under which U.S. and NATO personnel buy rationed coupon books for tax-free petroleum products.
The price is set using contracts with suppliers set by the Defense Energy Support Center, with an an additional six cents per liter for administrative costs, Sergio Martirano, a tax-free products administrator from Naples, Italy, told Stars and Stripes in an earlier interview.
Jason Chudy in Naples, Italy, contributed to this report.
