Dusseldorf The high prices at German filling stations for petrol and diesel have been causing heated debates for weeks. Although the three billion euro tank discount caused price reductions at the pumps for a short time, prices have been rising again since then. The accusation that the multinational oil companies have artificially increased prices since the announcement of the tank rebate in order to skim off additional profits has often been voiced. The oil lobby defends itself against the allegations and refers to the high world market prices for petrol and diesel.
How do the free gas stations that do not belong to large oil companies assess the current situation? Do you think skimming off excess profits or breaking up the oil companies, as suggested by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), is a good idea? The managing director of the Federal Association of Free Gas Stations e. V. in conversation.
Mr. Zieger, how big is the market power of the oil companies that the independent gas stations face every day?
We have a 20 percent import share in the German gas station market. So 80 percent are domestic goods that you can only get from someone who produces petrol and diesel in Germany. And these are the big ones. So we buy a large part of our goods from our competitors. They compete with us and are our suppliers at the same time.
The margin is determined by the person who sets my price and from whom I buy the goods. So the big ones earn both in production and in trading with me. Sometimes they also earn money at their gas stations by trading with my customers.
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In view of the market power of large oil companies, do you think that unbundling, as proposed by Economics Minister Robert Habeck, is a good idea?
No, this idea is not profitable. The greatest market power lies with state-owned companies, for example from the Arab world. Such state corporations as Saudi Aramco dominate the world market. The share of the crude oil market that the companies operating here have is not particularly large. I don’t think a demerger would have much of an effect here. Because the international market is dominated by other groups that are not active in our gas station business.
So would unbundling large oil companies only make sense if a country had its own state-owned company like Italy?
If I have a state company that I can influence, like the Austrians or Italians, then it might make sense. It doesn’t make sense for us, because in case of doubt, the corporations are no longer interested in our market. The operators operating in Germany are not the biggest buyers in the oil business. Shell and BP pool at most 20 percent of international crude oil volume, and the rest is determined by other players. I don’t see any major advantage for our German market.
“State-owned companies like Saudi Aramco dominate the world market.”
What should then be done against the market power of large oil companies in Germany?
The antitrust tools should work, especially the issue of below-cost sales. In the past few years, this has repeatedly cost us scars. We are interested in the market power being controlled here and instruments being made available to keep excesses under control.
What are your hopes for the Bundeskartellamt’s current sector inquiry?
The fuel sector inquiry of 2011 plowed up the petrol station market. Nothing came of it on the subject of price fixing. The cartel office will certainly not find anything objectionable under antitrust law this time either. The current sector inquiry should be extended to the refinery sector. This will enable you to understand the market a little more precisely and then sharpen the political instruments to deal with it.
Some economists have expressed the suspicion that the big oil companies are partially pocketing the fuel rebate. Are the oil multinationals ripping us off?
I wouldn’t put the word in my mouth. There is an incredible rise in crude oil prices, cost prices are a long way from current prices. The buyer cartel proposed by Economics Minister Habeck could bring something. However, I am unsure whether the buyers who can be bundled by us have the market power to be able to enforce something like this.
More profits have to be skimmed off somewhere.
Where most of the crude oil comes from for us, it should come out of the ground at 40 to 50 dollars a barrel, and in some countries it’s even cheaper. Most of the goods come from the Middle East, Venezuela and the North Sea. In my opinion, crude oil is skimmed off. There is no justification for raising the prices so significantly at this point. It is said that everyone wants oil at the moment and we are short of Russian goods. Everyone tries to earn their share of it. Of course that bothers me too.
An excess profit tax for oil companies is also currently being debated. How do you feel about this idea?
If you think it’s justified to siphon it off because you’re making more profits than before, then you can do that. But as I said: I don’t yet believe that there will be a surplus here in Germany. I see the issue more with crude oil. There is definitely an excess profit, because scarce goods meet many buyers and the price rises. Whether this is a provider cartel, I can not say. But at least there are profits that can actually be displayed.
How are the gas stations doing, is their economic survival currently in jeopardy?
We shouldn’t whine the loudest. The gas station operators make ends meet. You can live off a gas station. Where there is reasonable competition, you can consistently achieve a margin of five to seven cents per liter. If you run the gas station properly, non-gas income will run the business quite sensibly.
Mr. Zieger, thank you very much for the interview.
More: Rescue from Venezuela? New hope for the oil refinery in Schwedt.