The cost of filling up at the pump drops nearly 10 percent Saturday when prices will plummet at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stations in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
AAFES fuel prices, following on the heels of a record drop in the U.S., will fall to their lowest mark since mid-March. In the week ending Oct. 13, the price of stateside regular gas fell an all-time record 33 cents a gallon.
In Germany, that means regular gas plunges to $3.36 a gallon in the biggest one-week drop since the exchange started changing its prices weekly in early 2007. Mid-grade, meanwhile, plummets 32.2 cents to $3.505 in Germany, $3.476 in the Netherlands and $3.461 in the U.K.
"Wow," Airman 1st Class Spencer Hughes said when told of the 33-cent drop.
With gas costs going down, Hughes, a member of the 435th Logistics Readiness Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, will save almost $7 filling up his vehicle’s 20-gallon tank.
"I’ll probably go see more of Germany," he said. "I’ll be able to afford it again."
His buddy Clint Fiveash, a civilian in the Ramstein area, said it’s about time gas prices went down.
"I’d like seeing it at one dollar like it was back in the day," Fiveash said. "I’ll actually travel when the gas price is better. At $4.50 a gallon, I can’t afford it — not all of us make that kind of money."
Even if wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, consumer prices appear to be declining.
The global economy’s deceleration continues to cause prices for oil, gasoline and other petroleum products to pull back as demand for those products declines.
Swiss bank UBS’ monthly Global Economic Scorecard, released Oct. 9, indicates worldwide demand for oil is at its lowest point in more than two years.
OPEC lowered its demand forecast for 2009 on Wednesday as weakening demand for oil sent the price of light, sweet crude for November delivery below $75 a barrel for a brief period.
While not great news for oil company shareholders, lower oil prices are likely to lessen inflationary pressure in the coming months, meaning prices will either rise more slowly or come down, according to UBS.
Indeed, prices for goods and services other than petroleum products are already falling.
The U.S. Department of Labor issued two reports this week, one showing a decline in wholesale prices, the other indicating the Consumer Price Index — a measure of inflation — was either flat or slightly down in September.
And the Web site Bestfares.com on Wednesday reported that major U.S. and European airlines cut fuel surcharges for some trans-Atlantic flights by as much as 18 percent.
Roundtrip surcharges from most U.S. cities to London fell from $428 to $366 since the beginning of October, while surcharges for Rome, Madrid, Paris and Amsterdam fell from $330 to $280.
Surcharges for German cities have held steady at $210 per roundtrip ticket.
In Italy, the fuel program is administered by the Navy’s Tax-Free Office in Naples and is adjusted monthly.
Stars and Stripes reporter Steve Mraz in Kaiserslautern contributed to this report.
