A bigger than anticipated drop in fuel prices at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stations in Europe will lower prices by as as much as 23.8 cents a gallon next month.
This is the second straight month that AAFES rejected its normal pricing formula, resulting in lower-than-expected prices.
AAFES’ overseas fuel prices are usually set by averaging the price of gas in the U.S. over the previous four or five weeks and adding local delivery costs. Using that method, AAFES’ price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Germany would have dropped from $2.603 to $2.52.
Instead, the price will drop to $2.38.
Prices for other grades will also come down by about 23 cents, except diesel, which will see a drop of 14 cents in Germany and the United Kingdom and 6 cents in the Netherlands.
An AAFES news release said the exchange’s leadership can exercise discretion when setting monthly overseas gas prices “only when extraordinary circumstances impact the Department of Energy average.”
Using the continued rapid decline in stateside gas prices as its rationale, AAFES’ leadership exercised its discretion to lower prices by about 14 cents more than the usual pricing policy would have. The AAFES release said exchange relied on stateside prices from only the last two weeks, rather than the usual four- or five-week average, as a baseline for its overseas prices. Local dispensing costs were added to this average to determine prices at the pump for November.
In the States, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $2.25 on Oct. 23, according to the Department of Energy. A month earlier, the DOE reported an average of $2.50 for the same gallon.
Last November, AAFES’ price for a gallon of regular was $2.78.
Asked what he thought of the falling gas prices, 2nd Lt. Derrick Dew of Bamberg said, “It’s an outstanding thing, especially for someone who drives a big SUV.”
After the price falls Wednesday, Dew will spend about $5.80 less each time he has to fill the 26-gallon tank on his Chevrolet Tahoe.
“The prices overall are more beneficial for buying fuel coupons. I buy 100-liter coupon books, and what used to cost $83 now costs $71,” said Dew, who works with the 212th Military Police Company.
Another soldier from Bamberg, Spc. Katron Pace of the 173 Airborne Brigade’s Deputy Command Office, said, “It’s good. Gas prices are too high.”
Pace, who has been in Germany more than two years, fills up his BMW 325i about once a week. Filling his 16-gallon tank in November will cost about $3.50 less than it did in October.
The falling prices are saving him money, “and I can’t complain about that,” Pace said.
Stars and Stripes reporters Mark St.Clair and Sandra Jontz contributed to this story.
November prices
Army and Air Force Exchange Service fuel prices for November:
GermanyUnleaded: $2.38Super unleaded: $2.492Super plus unleaded: $2.595Diesel: $2.679
NetherlandsSuper unleaded: $2.498Super plus unleaded: $2.747Diesel: $2.758
United KingdomSuper unleaded: $2.442Super plus unleaded: $2.554Diesel: $2.629
AzoresSuper unleaded: $2.825
TurkeySuper unleaded: $2.846Diesel coupons: $2.750
