Fuel prices will climb nearly 14 cents a gallon on average Saturday at AAFES locations in Germany and the United Kingdom.
The jump is directly pegged to prices in the U.S., which this week made their biggest one-week gain since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, according to U.S. Department of Energy data. AAFES prices in Germany and the U.K. are set by adding the local costs of distribution to the weekly DOE average.
Prices for all grades have surged roughly 25 cents a gallon in the past three weeks, according to the DOE.
Regular gasoline, sold only in Germany, hits $3.18 on Saturday — a jump of 14.1 cents.
Midgrade gasoline is up 13.4 cents a gallon to $3.284 in Germany and $3.222 in the U.K.
Diesel is up 14.6 cents to $3.47 in Germany and $3.408 in the U.K.
In the Netherlands, where AAFES fuel is sold for the price the exchange pays to buy and distribute it, the price climb is even steeper. There, a gallon of midgrade, the lowest grade sold in the country, rises 18.5 cents a gallon to $3.755 a gallon.
The increase goes against normal trends for this time of year, which says that gas prices should drop in the fall.
According to DOE data, U.S. gas prices have trended lower in October and November in all but two years over the last decade, and even in those years the biggest jump was less than 10 cents over a four-week period.
The Energy Information Administration, part of the DOE, predicts U.S. gas prices will average about $2.95 a gallon for the rest of the year, and that the U.S. average will hit a new record of $3.235 a gallon by May after a short slump in January and February.
If the EIA prediction holds true, AAFES gas customers will pay more than $3 a gallon for all grades of gas at least through year’s end.
