Driving bans proposed in Europe as fuel prices skyrocket

Experts and politicians in Europe have raised the prospect of implementing driving restrictions in an effort to reduce the demand on petrol and diesel, and help lower prices.

The co-leader of Germany’s ruling party, Saskia Esken, has told Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel the government should consider reducing speed limits and implementing driving bans if petrol prices continue to rise.

Esken cited a law introduced during the oil crisis of the 1970s which allows the German Government to take extraordinary measures in such a scenario, which could include price caps, placing energy companies under the control of officials, or restricting vehicle usage.

“It allows the government to introduce temporary measures such as a Sunday driving ban, which older people will remember, or a temporary speed limit,” she said in the interview.

The government recently cut fuel taxes, but Esken says the lower prices aren’t being fully passed on to motorists. As of 6 June, petrol prices in Germany were at €1.95 per litre ($AU2.93/L), with no sign of reprieve.

The latest comments from Saskia Esken could be softening the ground for a speed limit to be placed on Germany’s partially-unrestricted autobahns – a move her party has previously opposed.

An article published in the science journal Nature has echoed the calls, claiming a 10km/h reduction in the speed limit of cars and heavy vehicles globally would save 430,000 barrels of oil products each day.

The article also calls for more people to work from home, and a total ban of cars from inner cities.

A similar set of ideas was outlined by the International Energy Agency, which put forward a 10-point plan back in March which it says would reduce global oil consumption by 2.7 million barrels per day – or around a 2.7 per cent reduction.

Europe is struggling to keep up with energy demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to widespread sanctions being placed on the country. Russia previously supplied 50 per cent of Europe’s coal, 40 per cent of its natural gas, and 25 per cent of its oil needs.

“As a result of Russia’s appalling aggression against Ukraine, the world may well be facing its biggest oil supply shock in decades, with huge implications for our economies and societies,” IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol said at the time.

“IEA Member Countries have already stepped in to support the global economy with an initial release of millions of barrels of emergency oil stocks, but we can also take action on demand to avoid the risk of a crippling oil crunch,” Birol said.

Typically, this is the period when international oil companies restock their storage facilities, ahead of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer driving season – a busier time of the year when more fuel is consumed – however oil scarcity has led to consistent stock drawdowns.

In an effort to help reduce fuel prices, the US Government has also been releasing its Strategic Petroleum Reserve onto the market this year, with 82.2 million barrels of oil fed into the system since January.