Drivers in the Netherlands might want to fill up their tanks before gas prices go up as much as 20 cents a gallon on Tuesday.
The Netherlands will be the only country in Europe to see an increase in February, Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials announced this week.
Prices are going down at all other overseas pumps an average of 7 cents a gallon, according to an AAFES announcement.
In the Netherlands, the new prices for all grades, including diesel, were set at the “floor,” or minimum, selling prices, according to an AAFES Board of Directors policy.
The floor-pricing policy is used when the cost of fuel and other fees associated with it — such as the cost to run the fuel coupon program — exceeds the Department of Energy’s national average price for gasoline.
This means AAFES has to charge the exact amount for its fuel as AAFES pays for it, instead of the price determined by the Energy Department, according to Col. Shelley A. Richardson, AAFES-Europe Region commander.
“In this case it makes the gas sale price higher than what the DoE average says it should be sold at because AAFES would be selling fuel at a loss, which the board of directors has determined wouldn’t happen,” Richardson said during a phone interview Wednesday.
She explained that gas is more expensive in the Netherlands, causing AAFES floor prices to be higher than the DOE national average.
The opposite has happened with diesel fuel, however, bringing it down about 16 cents from $2.482 to $2.316, which is still higher than the DOE national average, but is the set floor price, Richardson said.
Something similar is happening to customers in Turkey. They will still see prices lower at the pumps, with super plus unleaded dropping from $2.196 to $2.127 per gallon. However, the price for super-unleaded fuel coupons will remain at $2.34, and the price for diesel fuel will remain at $2.28. This is because diesel fuel is sold only through the coupon program and the coupons are sold at cost from the Defense Fuel Supply Center, which sets the price. It did not change the prices this month, Richardson said.
Though all other countries using AAFES fuel are seeing a drop in cost, the average price of regular unleaded fuel is still about 23 cents a gallon higher than it was at this same time last year.
In the Azores, the price for super plus unleaded was $2.182 per gallon and will decrease to $2.119 per gallon.
In Germany, the AAFES price for normal unleaded fuel will drop from $2.046 to $1.974 per gallon; the price for super-unleaded fuel changes from $2.151 down to 2.075 per gallon; super plus from $2.248 down to $2.175; and the price for diesel fuel from $2.208 down to $2.125 per gallon.
Drivers in the United Kingdom will see a decrease from $2.085 to $2.009 a gallon for super-unleaded fuel. Plus, diesel fuel costs are down from $2.142 to $2.059 per gallon.
