Overview

• The authority’s latest Q2 analysis verifies that petrol prices rise quickly following crude-oil cost increases but fall only gradually after price drops.
• Fuel stations adjusted their prices an average of 22 times per day in the second quarter, driven by early Q2 oil swings and mid-June Middle East tensions.
• A station deemed cheapest among its five nearest competitors retains that ranking with a 79% probability after 15 minutes, 72% after 30 minutes and nearly two-thirds after eight hours.
• Bundeskartellamt warns that if all market players adopt such asymmetric pass-through patterns, it could constitute coordinated anti-competitive conduct under German law.
• The investigation remains open as regulators weigh potential cartel proceedings and consider broader measures to bolster market transparency.