Faced with sharply rising gasoline and diesel prices in Germany, the Left party’s parliamentary faction has called for the possibility of drawing on the country’s strategic oil reserves.
Janine Wissler, the deputy chair of the faction and its spokesperson for economic policy, told the Saturday editions of the Funke Media Group newspapers that “how the situation in the Middle East will evolve in the short or medium term is difficult to predict. From an economic and energy‑policy standpoint, it is sensible to consider using the existing strategic oil reserves to mitigate potential cost shocks”.
She added that a cost shock would be triggered if inflation were to rise to a level that is economically harmful. “We are not there yet, but the federal government at times behaves carelessly instead of preparing for such a scenario” Wissler remarked. Germany currently holds about 90 days of strategic oil reserves. “If oil production in the Middle East stalls, action is required”.
Wissler further stressed that the situation is not only critical for oil supplies; “LNG prices could also climb dramatically”. This would cause storage problems for winter gas supplies, for which the government has yet to present a strategy. “The previous energy policy of the federal government and especially Minister Reiche leaves little hope. Oil and gas companies have already, as after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, exploited the crisis to generate massive excess profits”.