Re fueling a petrol or diesel car at 3 euros per liter. That barrier is not a utopia: it is already a reality in Europe. Filling the tank costs more than 125 euros. Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the rise in crude have kept fuel prices climbing for months. Since March, the uptick has been evident at the pumps, with government discounts in some countries offering only minimal relief.
There are gas stations in Italy and Germany that have shown these record prices: a station in the boot country reached the mark of premium diesel at 3.159 euros per liter. They are isolated cases, far from national averages, but they serve as a good thermometer in a climb that has pushed the average price per liter of fuel above 2 euros in several EU countries.
Diesel at almost 3.16 euros per liter in Italy
3.159 euros per liter. That was the price stamped for Supreme diesel on August 27 at the Laimburg Ovest service station on the A22 motorway, 20 km south of Bolzano in northern Italy. It wasn’t the first time. On August 24 and 25 the price was the same. In numbers, filling the tank with “expensive” diesel at this Italian station translated to more than 126 euros for 40 liters and almost 190 euros for a 60-liter tank.
By the end of March, northern Italy had already begun displaying exorbitant prices. Codacons’s mapping placed several stations on secondary roads charging >2.7 euros per liter of diesel: Prato (2.763), Cuneo (2.749) and Milan (2.745). This was with the government’s fuel discount already in place, which began in mid‑March. While it helped curb the climb, by July 2026, for example in Milan gasoline was available at 2.60 euros. In general, the fiscal relief has been limited in impact.
Italy, as Spain did, reduced fuel taxes. In its case the specific fuel taxes, or excise duties: between March 19 and July 3 a rebate equivalent to 24 euro cents per liter was applied to both gasoline and diesel, gradually reducing to 6 euro cents. Since July 28, with diesel prices continuing to surge, the rebate applies only to diesel, with a 17 euro-cent discount that remains active through extensions. The latest extension runs until tomorrow, September 10. The forecast, not aimed at lowering the price, is that the discounts will be kept but targeted to specific groups, such as professionals.
Some German gas stations have surpassed 3 euros in September
Germany is today another country where average prices have been above 2 euros since July. There have also been stations charging above the 3-euro mark. In April, Easter Sunday, alarms rang at an Avia station in an A5 service area: diesel hit 3.16 euros and gasoline 3 euros per liter. The operator, Kuehmichel GmbH & Co, said it was a technical error corrected within 15 minutes. But after adjustment, the diesel price hovered around 2.80 euros.
What wasn’t an error was the price posted at several German stations in early September. According to Prix-carburant.eu, a station in Bocholt set the price at 3 euros for diesel A and for Super 95 and Super 98. Two other stations hovered around this threshold: one with diesel at 2.999 euros per liter and Super 95 at 2.95 euros. Another in Dortmund had diesel at 2.90 euros and Super 98 at 2.96 euros. Earlier, in August, a station served Aral Ultimate 102 premium gasoline at 3.049 euros per liter, marking a record.
Germany is a special case. Gas stations can adjust prices several times a day, though with regulation and limits. Since April 1, 2026, the Fuel Price Adjustment Act (KPAnG) states that stations may raise the prices of gasoline and diesel only once per day, at 12:00 noon. From there, they can lower it as many times as they wish, but cannot raise it again until 12:00 the next day. The measure aimed to curb price swings, but according to ADAC, after its introduction the price level continued to rise. Many stations, a few days after it went into effect, raised prices covertly.
Source: ADAC
Those 3 euros are extreme cases, but Germany remains one of the European countries where fuel is most expensive. As the data compiled by the German club show, the average price per liter of Super 95 gasoline in August was 2.145 euros and 2.223 euros for diesel.
The German government also established temporary tax relief after the Hormuz crisis erupted. The so-called Tankrabatt was in effect from May 1 to June 30, reducing the price by about 16.7 euro-cents per liter. The rebate ended at the end of June and since then prices have risen again, relentlessly: diesel rose from an average of 1.946 euros at the start of July to 2.225 euros by the end of that month.
Europe now above 2 euros on average and Spain is catching up
According to the latest EU bulletin, the average price across member states is now 1.949 euros for a liter of gasoline and 2.039 euros for diesel. Notable figures include eight countries exceeding the 2-euro threshold. Denmark leads with the most expensive gasoline (2.52 euros per liter) and Finland tops the diesel chart (2.33 euros per liter).
|
gasoline super 95 (euros/liter) |
diesel A (euros/liter) |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Denmark |
2.52 |
2.27 |
|
Netherlands |
2.35 |
2.32 |
|
Germany |
2.24 |
2.23 |
|
Finland |
2.20 |
2.33 |
|
France |
2.07 |
2.20 |
|
Greece |
2.04 |
2.02 |
|
Italy |
2.02 |
2.12 |
|
Portugal |
2.01 |
2.02 |
Spain is not among the most expensive countries, partly because the specific tax burden on fuel is lower than in neighboring European countries: the average now stands at 1.73 euros for Super 95 and 1.86 euros for diesel A. But the price surge following the crisis triggered by the US attack on Iran led to tax relief: the VAT on gasoline and diesel was cut from 21% to 10%.
This discount ended at the end of July, pushing the per-liter price of diesel up by 15.7% compared with 2025. On July 1 the average price of a liter of diesel was 1.554 euros, but by July 31 it neared 1.80 euros. And diesel A+ reached 1.9 euros. Since then, during the peak of the summer holidays, the trend has been upward. Especially for diesel.
As a result, filling a 45-liter tank by the end of August already easily exceeded 90 euros. Hence the new tax relief, activated on September 1 and expected to remain at least for this month: 20 euro cents per liter for diesel and 5 euro cents per liter for gasoline. Today, diesel A averages 1.82 euros and gasoline 1.86 euros in Spain.
Images | Unsplash, Total Energies, ADAC
