Gasoline and diesel will soon become considerably more expensive due to higher excise duties. This increases the price differences with filling stations in Germany and Belgium. This also applies to the pump in Luxembourg on the way to your holiday destination. Detours will pay off again for many motorists, but don’t count yourself rich.
In days gone by you could easily detour tens of kilometers to refuel cheaply across the border. That was even interesting for residents of Apeldoorn and Utrecht.
When the war in Ukraine suddenly made refueling much more expensive, the cabinet decided on a temporary excise duty reduction. As a result, the price differences with other countries became smaller.
This excise tax credit will disappear in steps. The first step will be taken on 1 July: petrol will be 17 cents more expensive and diesel will cost 12 cents (including VAT) more.
Where the average petrol prices in the Netherlands and Germany are now about the same (about 1.80 euros per litre), refueling at the eastern neighbors is therefore a lot cheaper again.
The difference with Belgian petrol is especially large
The Belgian petrol price is already 10 cents lower. If the Dutch excise tax credit lapses, it will therefore save more than 25 cents per litre. Diesel is now slightly cheaper in the Netherlands than with our neighbours, but that advantage will soon disappear.
Detouring can pay off again, especially for petrol drivers near Belgium. With a price difference of 25 cents times a tank of 50 liters you already save 12.50 euros. But the question is how much the detour will cost you. Suppose you drive a total of 60 kilometers. With a consumption of 1 liter per 15 kilometers you use 4 liters of petrol. And that will cost you almost 8 euros. In short: you can still detour for that. With a smaller price difference of, for example, 15 cents, it becomes more difficult.
‘People drive around for the good feeling’
“People are going to make a detour again, but often do so beyond what is worthwhile,” says fuel expert Paul van Selms of UnitedConsumers. According to him, this is partly because price differences near the border are smaller.
The Dutch filling stations should discourage detours and are therefore slightly cheaper, while the German or Belgian filling station just across the border knows that it can charge slightly higher prices than elsewhere in those countries. “The profit is not that big, but people drive because it gives a good feeling.”
In a traffic jam at the gas station in Luxembourg
The tank Valhalla is traditionally Luxembourg. For holidays in France, southern Germany or southern Europe, you may be able to refuel cheaply there. Now the difference with petrol is already more than 20 cents per liter and that is increasing to almost 40 cents.
Van Selms: “If you do drive past it, you can certainly deliberately fill up in Luxembourg. But I always see long queues at the motorway pumps there. Personally, I prefer to reach my destination quickly rather than waiting half an hour. wait at the pump.”
He advises you to let your navigation lead you to a pump just off the highway. “It is quieter there and often more affordable to refuel.”
Dutch petrol and diesel will probably become more expensive in the second half of June, expects Van Selms. “Because everyone soon fills up their tank, filling station owners will anticipate this. And oil companies too. They will probably increase their prices for deliveries to the filling stations.”
2023-06-12 03:01:03
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