At the Gabriëls gas station just across the border in Essen, it was very busy on Wednesday morning. Still, it’s hard to spot a Belgian license plate. Due to the huge price difference with the Dutch pumps – sometimes as much as 40 cents per litre – tank tourism is increasing every day.
The village residents also notice this, says one of the few Flemish customers. “Certainly online, you can see that things are starting to escalate a bit for many people from Essen. They think it will be very busy.”
Although, this does not bother him. “We also shop in the Netherlands, don’t we? This is part of living in the border region.”
“It easily saves fifteen euros per tank.”
Some Dutch tankers make good use of cheaper fuels elsewhere. “I always drive up and down for petrol”, says a woman from Roosendaal. “It is so expensive in the Netherlands right now. And I don’t have a company fuel card so I have to cough up everything myself. It easily saves fifteen euros per tank, so that is worth it.”
At times, the waiting time can quickly increase to 15 minutes. A man from Roosendaal, therefore, chose to reconsider his choice. “Now I happened to be in the area, so I wanted to give it a try. But will I do it again next time? I do not know yet.”
Source: Omroep Brabant
Translator: Shufei
