In common with many countries, Denmark is seeing a rapid rise in fuel prices as global oil prices soar.

READ ALSO: Danish fuel prices at highest-ever level

Although the main cities have good public transport networks this is far from the case in small towns and rural areas, leaving residents with very little choice but to use their cars.

Prices at some petrol stations recently reached as much as 14.09 kroner per litre, including VAT.

High prices are expected to persist for the time being, despite a small decrease in the price of petrol at the end of last week.

So are there cheaper places to fill up? If so, where are they?

Although fuel prices in Denmark are primarily determined by three factors – international oil prices, the strength of the dollar and tax and VAT – a fourth element, local competition, means the price is not universal.

Local competition can also mean it’s an advantage to refuel in cities, where there are more competitors, than in rural areas, where fuel stations are more sparse.

As well as checking which stations have the cheapest prices on a given day, many offer loyalty rewards for customers who use their payment card systems. These aren’t always in the form of cash discounts but do offer various benefits.

Price checking 

There’s no single platform or aggregator that directly compares prices at different stations, so you’ll have to do the legwork yourself. However, most of the companies which operate petrol/gas stations in Denmark update their websites daily, showing the current price on any given day.

You can find this information on the websites of, for example, Circle K, OK, Ingo, Q8, Shell and F24.

Some of these pages also include links to a historical record of their prices, so you can check whether they have got more or less expensive since yesterday (or last year, for that matter). The change in price since yesterday is often displayed next to the current prices.

Petrol cards

The main companies in Denmark all offer some form of loyalty or membership rewards for fuel customers. These are commonly in the form of what is referred to in Danish as benzinkort, petrol cards.

A benzinkort is a special credit card which you use to pay when refuelling your vehicle. The cards only work at the stations run by the company to which the card belongs. Different deals and types of card are available, depending on the company. Some offer cash discounts while others include different types of rewards.

For example, the Shell benzinkort offers a discount of 10 øre per litre, can also be used to pay for car washes, and allows you to add offset CO2 emissions in your payments. You get up to 30 days’ interest free credit on the card.

OK’s benzinkort offers the largest number of stations, has an app for easy payment and refuelling at unmanned stations, can be used to pay for car wash, and is also valid as a payment card on the Great Belt Bridge. Bills are repaid monthly via the  betalingsservice direct debit system, which you can set up through your bank, or you can be sent a bill in the post.

Circle K and Q8 also offer discounts on fuel (at 13 øre and 10 øre per litre respectively).

More details can be found on the websites of the various companies, where the cards can usually be ordered for free.