Düsseldorf, April 26, 2026 Germany 12-Uhr-Regel oil industry profit study
A new study reveals that Germany's 12-Uhr-Regel policy led to an average 6-cent-per-liter increase in profit margins for super gasoline in its first two weeks of implementation.
Profit Margins Surge
The study, corroborated by two independent sources, found that the profit margin for super gasoline rose significantly following the introduction of the 12-Uhr-Regel, a policy aimed at regulating fuel prices. The 6-cent increase per liter marks a notable shift in the oil industry's earnings, though the impact on diesel fuel remains less clear.
Jacob Schildknecht, an analyst at the ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research), noted that diesel margins exhibited strong fluctuations during the observation period, making it difficult to quantify a precise increase. "The margins for diesel fuel have varied widely, complicating our ability to draw definitive conclusions," Schildknecht said.
Market Structure Plays Key Role
Justus Haucap, director of the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE), emphasized that the policy's effects are not uniform across markets. "Dieser Unterschied zeigt, dass die Reform nicht einheitlich wirkt, sondern stark von Marktstruktur und Wettbewerbsintensität abhängt," Haucap said, highlighting the role of local competition and market dynamics in shaping outcomes.
The study's findings suggest that regions with less competition may have seen sharper profit increases, while more competitive markets experienced milder effects. This variability underscores the complexity of regulating fuel prices in a diverse economic landscape.