Army and Air Force Exchange Service gas prices in Germany will fall just a fraction of a cent Saturday, while prices in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will drop anywhere from 4.5 cents to 17.2 cents a gallon.
For the second week in a row, "floor" pricing — a policy intended to prevent AAFES from losing money on fuel sales — keeps prices for all grades of fuel in Germany and the Netherlands from falling as much as in the U.S.
Fuel prices in the U.K., meanwhile, are keeping pace with freefalling U.S. prices.
The average price of regular gasoline stateside fell 15.2 cents a gallon in the latest weekly survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. AAFES regular in Germany, meanwhile, drops just six-tenths of a cent this week.
And while mid-grade and premium also fell more than 15 cents a gallon in the EIA survey, in the Netherlands prices for those grades will drop 4.5 cents and 5 cents respectively.
Because of floor pricing in Germany, regular gas in the country is no longer the cheapest grade of gas available in Europe — that distinction now falls on mid-grade gas sold in the U.K., where this week prices fall as much as in the U.S. for all grades of fuel, including diesel.
There’s every indication that prices will continue to drop at least into next week.
Stateside gas prices have fallen more than 5 cents a gallon since Monday, according to AAA, which tracks prices daily. Oil prices worldwide are at their lowest since February 2007, according to EIA, and were trading lower this week on world markets.
Sluggish demand for fuel is the primary reason oil and gas prices have fallen so drastically, according to the EIA.
Since the price of regular in the U.S. hit an all-time record $4.11 in July, prices have fallen more than $2 a gallon on average in the United States.
The average U.S. price "is now the lowest since March 14, 2005," according to a weekly energy summary posted on the EIA Web site.
AAFES regular in Germany, propped up by "floor" pricing, is now $2.527 a gallon —about $1.80 a gallon cheaper than at their peak.
In the Netherlands, where "floor" pricing drove the cheapest gas near $5 a gallon in July, mid-grade is now $2.562 — down roughly $2.40 a gallon from its peak.
