Average prices for diesel in Germany crept half a cent past €2 ($2.33) per liter (in other words, exceeding $7.50 per US gallon) on Wednesday morning, the ADAC motoring club said, while the cheapest variety of petroleum (or gasoline) stood just half a cent below the €2 mark on average.

Prices have risen sharply this week amid the volatility since Saturday's strikes on Iran and the subsequent fighting in the Middle East.

Oil production has been hampered in several countries, and deliveries through the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20% of oil exports typically sail — are somewhere between dangerous and impossible at present. 

Prices approaching the panic levels shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The figures can and likely will vary during the day. On more normal days, German filling stations tend to charge considerably more in the mornings — to capitalize on commuters filling up — than in the evenings. 

Starting on Monday, as disruptions to oil supplies and deliveries became more clear and as Europe reopened for business after the weekend, prices started to rise sharply. 

Around a month ago, diesel prices per liter were almost 20% lower than they were on Wednesday, with petroleum just over 15% lower. 

Wednesday morning's figures are still not quite as high as the monthly average for March 2022, in the panic immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but are less than 15 cents per liter shy of that level. 

ADAC also warned of likely queues as people sought to fill up, anticipating further increases. 

"Drivers who want to fill up should account for longer waiting times," ADAC wrote. "The spokesman for the filling station federation, Herbert Rabl, reported a large rush at petrol stations since Sunday." 

France says it will control price hikes if necessary

The French government on Wednesday announced it would impose controls on filling station prices if necessary to ensure that any developments remained "resonable." 

Economy Minister Roland Lescure said on Franceinfo radio that the government had noted "an increase of a few cents at present" in fuel prices that it deemed to be "normal" when considering the increased base oil prices. 

He stressed that at present, the government did not perceive the need to intervene at scale, saying that "in more than 97% of the territory, there is no problem" and he appealed to consumers to "keep a cool head" and resist the urge to panic buy. 

Lescure said that controls would take place if necessary to ensure that increases remained "reasonable" when compared to "rises in per-barrel oil prices," which he said were also "relatively reasonable as of today." 

While oil prices have jumped since Saturday, they have only increased from in the region of $70 per barrel for Brent Crude at the end of last week to roughly $80 per barrel on Wednesday. 

Long lines at the pumps in many countries

Car users in several other European countries like the UK, Italy, Netherlands and Spain demonstrated an increased appetite to fill up in recent days, amid similar price developments. 

In parts of Asia with a particular dependence of Middle Eastern oil or especially if a major customer of Iran's, which produces almost 5% of the world's supply, the sense of urgency was greater still. 

Myanmar, for instance, imports around 90% of its fuel oil according to 2024 figures, and its widespread internal conflicts have long put severe stress on its supply chain. 

Cars queued up in long lines seeking to fill up as supplies dwindled on Wednesday.

The military junta announced that half of private vehicles would be ordered off the roads each day, based on their license plate numbers, starting next week in a bid to preserve fuel. 

Spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the country had 40 days' worth of stockpiles. 

The traffic curbs were meant to ensure the country is "able to get through the oil difficulties facing the world by using it systematically," he said in an audio message for reporters. 

In the US, famously one of the cheapest developed countries in the world to fill up given its considerable domestic oil production and low taxes, prices have also risen by more than 5%. A gallon of regular gasoline/petroleum reached $3.19 on average, according to the American Automobile Association, compared to $2.98 a week ago.  

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher