[*paul_moss]

The price is now getting stupid. What is happening out there? Oil companies last week anounced their first quarter and they are making massive profits. So why is it climbing so high.

Dont tell me tax's.

[Art]

Because we live in rip off Britain Paul.

The goverment know that people will pay no matter what price it goes to.

Arthur

[ollie]

I saw someone mention they went for quotes on a motorbike in the past, ive been doing that on and off for the last two weeks, ive got large panniers for all my gear and its much cheaper than the van and faster    Ive been telling my custys its for the environment as much as my costs. As you say Diesel is sky high now.

[DK]

its only £1.14 in east scotland

[richie]

£1.14  in East Scotland,  Its £1.19 - £1.23 here in Birmingham.  I might drive to Scotland & save myself upto 9p per litre     

Seriously though,  the British goverment keep telling us that they have cut down the crime rate yet they are the biggest thieves when you look at the amount od Tax the are charging us especially on Fuel.  I can remember the days when i could fill up a petrol can for £1.72 (thats a mere 37.8p per litre.

Take a look at the link below.  It shows Petrol Prices 1983-2008.  We are been ROBBED.

www.     speedlimit    .    org.    uk    /    petrolprices.    html

Sorry about all the spaces between the words only this site wont let me post a web link.

Richie.

[klinger (spa clean)]

£5.50 a gallon!!..never thought I,d see the day!!....Its actually making me drive slower and keeping the revs down...never thought I,d see that either!!!

[Eric Lloyd]

I can see a time coming when we will be lugging our t.m's about in a pony and trap. Anyone remember when you could get petrol at night by shoving a pound note into a slot machine and get about 4 gallons of two-star? (sorry - showing my age a bit there)

[des]

Got my £30-00 worth of diesel the other day and that comes up to the half way mark ,But i just noticed that its, a quarter of an inch down on this mark .£5-00 on every job then Des

[carpetworx]

Crikey i thought things here were bad, at $1.70lt for diesel

[The Great One]

Brighton (paradise) this morning:

Unleaded £1.11.9

Diesel £1.21.9

Regards

Martin

Could it BE any sunnier?

[from edge2edge]

I drive alot of miles and have now started driving like miss daisy.I get some odd looks but i always get places on time and seem more relaxed.Certainly dont make me feel macho but being broke and unable to afford a beer is worse me thinks.Alan(swindon)

[cardo]

its getting out of control now these prices....where will it end?

[stuart_clark]

I saw eco fuel advertised the other day at 95 pence per litre, not sure I dare put it in my van though!

[spindle]

didnt check diesel but petrol 110.9 pl

[The Great One]

10th of May 2008

Unleaded £1.12.9

Diesel £1.22.9

Regards

Martin

[david washbrook]

unleaded £113.9

disel £125.9

[Phillip Mold]

£1.50 by end of 2008

[John Kelly]

The problem is oil is a commodoity which is traded on world markets. Basically people who have no attachment with the oil industry buy it and sell it on at a later date to make a huge profit, like estate agents this has an upward effect on prices.
Most products have some degree of competitiveness which has a ceiling affect on the price. This doesn't happen with commodities such as oil, sugar, coffee etc. It is also not happening with electricity and gas, they are all charging as much as they can get away with with little price variation which would make people switch more readily.
Don't forget these massive profits end up going on the whole to one set of people, the shareholders. I don't think the big shareholders in BP, Tesco's etc worry about filling the tank of their Bentley's.
Another thought, don't you just think the government are just sitting back and doing nothing because the high price of fuel will make people do less journeys and so help them reach reach their carbon emisions without lifting a finger.

[Ken Wainwright]

John's right. 

Any energy extracted from beneath the ground is also a diminishing resource.

But with the massive increase in consumption, especially from high growth countries like China and India, we are finding even greater demands on those diminishing resources.

We have to accept that for the rest of our lifetimes, energy costs are going to go through the roof. It's the supply and demand thing illustrated by John.

Bio fuels have a role to play in easing the situation, but that is already creating new problems with food production. It appears that locally, rape acreage has gone through the roof, and I bet much of this is to do with bio fuel rather than food.

Now to be controversial. In the changing world, the only energy that looks capable of being a winner is nuclear   All that mankind needs to do is solve the problem of waste.  Perhaps we should take up the Australian offer of dumping it in the central Australian wilderness. After all, nobody lives there :

Perhaps I should stick to my clean-in-use electric porty for now :

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[carpetworx]

You can always run your van on water,check it out on you tube..

[The Great One]

Hi

basically the reason the price has gone nuts is the hedge funds who trade the oil.

there is also 'Double dipping' going on. This is the oil companies who make their profit from all aspects of the crude, then they play the markets as well, so they profit twice.

Bio Fuels are a horror story, they are about as climate friendly as a cow fart. from destruction of prime rainforest (bigger than the size of Wales in borneo alone) to harvest palm trees for palm oil, to the actual production of the bio fuel, and we are now being forced to have this in our fuel (2 1/2%) Tghis has also pushed up the price of staple commodities like wheat, sugar, rapeseed. Wheat has tripled in the past 18 months from £71 MT in 2006 to over £181 MT now.

Fossil fuels are not necessary (spelling) a finite source. For a start the fact that crude comes from fossiled remain is a theory, not a fact. there is also a theory that oil is made in the mantel and seeps to the surface, this has come about from previous empty wells filling up.

Peak Oil is also a farce, there is oil for many hundreds of years yet.

Regards

Martin

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

I saw eco fuel advertised the other day at 95 pence per litre, not sure I dare put it in my van though!

what van do you have ??

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

even cook oils gone up its now 71p a liter and thats mine 45 pounds to fill my transit 

[colin thomas]

shouldn't this have been posted under the 'why not buy a truck-mount' thread. i'm seriously thinking of going lpg
colin

[dan roberts]

Bio fuel is superb, better than chucking neat veg oil in your van or car, its reclaimed, the glycerine is removed and its filtered to make it the same viscosity as 'diesel'. I have ran my 4X4 on it for years, all for the dazzling price of £0.80 per litre.

[Jason Hedges]

Stopped at a BP garage this afternoon on the A12:

£124.9 regular diesel

£131.9 ultimate diesel

Dearest I've seen yet.

[dan roberts]

BIO FUEL, f@@k the arabs. It can be re-newed, here, on british soil.

[Jason Hedges]

Hi Dan,

Been looking for outlets near me cant find any. Love the idea though!

Is that what you use? Do you buy or make it?

[The Great One]

BIO FUEL, f@@k the arabs. It can be re-newed, here, on british soil.

Looks like some of you guys are mistaken, most of the bio fuel is not reconstituted from Chipfat, it is harvested through Corn, wheat and palm oil (see previous post) What you are saving from fuel is being eaten by hike in food prices

The effect of biofuels on food prices has been dramatic. A litre of corn oil has more than doubled in a year, to £1.38, in one of the big supermarkets. Fusilli pasta, made from wheat, is up 81 per cent, a baguette by 41 per cent and Weetabix cereal 21 per cent.

Farmers are also facing huge increases in feed bills, leading to dearer meat and dairy products. Milk is up 16.6 per cent, English butter by 62 per cent and mild cheddar by 25.6 per cent.

Free-range eggs, which come from hens fed a corn mix, have leapt in price by an alarming 47.4 per cent in a year to £2.58 a dozen.

Basmati rice is up more than 60 per cent in 12 months and Britain's biggest supplier, Tilda, has warned of a further rise of around 30 per cent in the coming year.

Although I have no time for Global warming, I don't like to see prime rainforests destroyed over the make believe story that is bio fuel, it is not possible to grow ourselves out of the need for oil, the land simply doesn't exist.

Regards

Martin

[dan roberts]

You are mistaken, Bio Fuel is collected from hotels, restaurants, chip shops, filtered etc, its WVO, waste vegetable oil.
So its not affecting your rainforest you cock.
Jason, there is loads of outlets, two down here in a mateer of 10 miles so im sure if you research you'll find one. Mine is called Bio Fuel UK, Exeter. Best of luck finding one mate, it saves me over £20 a week!! And runs quieter, and less, less smokey.

Cheers, Dan

[jasonl]

The small fry (sorry) producers use WVO, along with  some slightly bigger ones who use WVO from food production, so Dan is right on that score.
BUT , since last month ALL diesel at  the pumps has by law had to contain 5% bio diesel , and this 5% is mainly made from "new" oil  grown in faraway places on deforested land, so Martin was indeed correct.

[The Great One]

You are mistaken, Bio Fuel is collected from hotels, restaurants, chip shops, filtered etc, its WVO, waste vegetable oil.
So its not affecting your rainforest you cock.
Jason, there is loads of outlets, two down here in a mateer of 10 miles so im sure if you research you'll find one. Mine is called Bio Fuel UK, Exeter. Best of luck finding one mate, it saves me over £20 a week!! And runs quieter, and less, less smokey.

Cheers, Dan

Dan, before you fire off your insults, best you look in the mirror and direct them at the person in front of you.

What you are saving in fuel is maybe (again not absolutely) being lost in food bills. Oh, they are not my rainforests either.

I said 'most' not all. Yes, WVO is used, but globally it is mostly (not totally, for those that can't read) taken from the sources already mentioned. Again this is one of (not totally) the reasons why our food is more expensive.

At the moment the bio fuel in fuel is 2 1/2%, the EU (in all their wisdom) want this to rise to 10% by 2030. Bio fuel is grown in this country from wheat, Corn, rapeseed crops. I can hardly blame the farmers as they get more from their crop for biofuels than they do for food usage.

Martin

[The Great One]

Hi Jason

Posted on  Tuesday 15 April 2008

New laws that came into effect in the UK this week mandating all fuels for cars and trucks must have some biofuel content has been found to do more harm to the environment than good. A number of charities including Oxfam and Greenpeace as well as science groups claim the production of biofuel will add more carbon-dioxide to the air than would be reduced by the amount adsorbed by the crops used to make the fuel.

Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, fuel companies must ensure 2.5% of fuel sold at UK pumps consists of biofuels and 5% by 2010. According to the Department for Transport the plan will cut CO2 levels by 2.5 million metric tons a year. Their reasoning is that replanted crops for biofuel production takes the same amount of CO2 out of the atmosphere as burning them puts in, reports Bloomberg.

Increased production of biofuel crops also has the adverse effect of pushing up food prices as land available for food crops is reduced. As UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown pointed out last week, the government itself is concerned biofuels are pushing up food costs yet the law still passed.

According to Oxfam, the new law will cost taxpayers $1 billion a year and could force up to 60 million people from their land in third world countries to make room for biofuel production. Both Oxfam and Greenpeace say the policy is “reckless,” because fuel providers are not yet obliged to source biofuels from sustainable plantations.

UK Biofuel Policy “Insane” - Senior Government Scientist

On the 1st April, 2008, the addition 2.5% of biodiesel to petrol and diesel becomes UK law.

Under the terms of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), fuel suppliers have to be able to prove that 2.5% of the fuel they sell is from ‘renewable’ sources - which means biofuels.

In 2010, this obligation will rise to 5%.


Regards

Martin

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

im not getting into where bio fuel comes from debate but all i will say befour useing it you must check where your van can run on it ! the older the van the more likely it will be ok

if the vans still under warrnty the stay away from it as it will voiid it !
we run our two old shape trannsits on it fine and the expert (non turbo) fine but the sprinters wont run on it ! the ram will run fine on it thank god that only does 12 to the gallen !

[calmore]

Biodiesel 85p down this way, all taxes paid, MOQ 100 litres..

[carpetworx]

HELLOOO what about salt water?? plenty of that around.

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

HELLOOO what about salt water?? plenty of that around.

yes and from what ive heard its best getting rinced out with cold water 

[stevegunn]

I paid £1.27 for diesel this afternoon

[The Great One]

Hi

15th of May 2008

7.30am Texaco Brighton Seafront

Unleaded £1.12.9
Dieseln    £ 1.23.9

10.30am

Unleaded £1.14.9
diesel       £1.25.9

Regards

Martin

[nick p]

i was paying £1.19.9 when this post was first started now im paying £1.24.9 crazy whens it going to stop

[ollie]

I payed £1.27 today in Gowerton. At this rate it will be £1.50  in a few months. 

[Joe H]

They do reckon thats where it is going - £1.50 by Sept.

The price are in the hands of OPEC etc toa great wxtent, but the VAT is added to each increase, meaning MORE taxes for the government to waste.

[The Great One]

HI

It's different factors.

Obviously the 2p hike here and there doesn't help.

This recent (last few months) has been fuelled (excuse pun) by the hedge fund managers speculating on the commodity markets (oil futures) which has in turn pushed up every other commodity.

Iron Ore out of Brazil has gone up 70%, whereas shipping has gone up 20%, China which takes most of it agreed to the rise back in Feb (they had little choice) although the bottom has just fallen out of the Indian Iron Ore market the last 2 weeks.

Thing is of course that when crude drops again (if) unleaded & diesel won't drop with it.

Regards

Martin

[Joe H]

Hi Martin

Where do you get all this info from?

Its amazing you find time to do cleans

Always informative though.

Still not got fully into the Envirodri.
I had a chat with them at Carpex and th "new" rep said he was in Cheshire in April and would contact me and arrange a visit - but sadly no contact.

[david washbrook]

had to pay £133.9 today and was informed it will be £140 in the next couple of weeks

[Shaun_Ashmore]

It was only last year that it was less than a £1, but knowone is argueing with the government, makes you wonder if all of this green issue is government fueled (no pun) as the price goes up the 'greenies' say that it's better for the planet that we don't use our fossil fuel vehicles.

Is there a creditable alternative? non that will bring in the same revenue for the taxman!

Shaun

[dan roberts]

I'm with Joe Hatton on this one. Martin you are just quoting poope out of The Times instead of voicing your own opinion, not really what the forum's about eh?
So, to get back to the bare bones of this convo, everyone with a diesel needs to check out thoroughly the prospects of Bio Diesel, its a renewable source, rape seed, grown here. Dont listen to this Times Eco Monkey blurbing poope about rain forests for sensationalism when the answer is literally right on most peoples doorsteps.

Cheers

Dan

[spencer davies]

The rape seed grown on the land cleared after de forestation in other parts of the world, the government should ease up on the massive taxes it takes. 

Bloody government.


S

[Jason Hedges]

Bloody government.

S

HERE HERE!!!!!!

Trouble is if we kick one lot out the next will be the same

[spencer davies]

Not true, this lot came to power inheriting an extremely strong economy, they have *****d it up with non existent management and ridiculous decisions, they will look after you if you want to sit around on your backside all day though 

Regards


S

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

had to pay £133.9 today and was informed it will be £140 in the next couple of weeks

Good grief!!!!! Now that is inflation. 10,000% inflation!!!

Typos strike again

[Steve Chapman]

any body know how easy it is to get into producing your own bio fuel ?

have been thinking about it of late, but was put off a bit by the papers saying its damaging some vehicles !


steve

[stevegunn]

Was £1.31 on the way to Leeds yesterday

[murky]

The goverment did all it could do to keep fuel costs below the psychological barrier of £1.00, ( dont forget that you are now paying about £5.00 per gallon in old money.)

When I first started driving my dad would send me up the road to put £1.00 worth in and we got 3 gallons 3 x 3/6d.

Now it has gone past that it will continue to go up and up, they are pulling in more tax and VAT the more it goes up.

I have allways run diesel vans and cars etc, but my partner is getting new company car and we are going for petrol because of the fuel savings.

Murky

[The Great One]

I'm with Joe Hatton on this one. Martin you are just quoting poope out of The Times instead of voicing your own opinion, not really what the forum's about eh?
So, to get back to the bare bones of this convo, everyone with a diesel needs to check out thoroughly the prospects of Bio Diesel, its a renewable source, rape seed, grown here. Dont listen to this Times Eco Monkey blurbing poope about rain forests for sensationalism when the answer is literally right on most peoples doorsteps.

Cheers

Dan

I have never read the times! Oh, & I'm certainly not an Eco anything, I have about as much time for the deluded Climate alarmists as i do for your abusive posts.

But to set the record straight...

What I have written is my own experience (I'm not just a cleaner)

As you seem to want to carry on being abusive, this shows how blinkered you are, take them off and have a look around, try doing some research instead of burying you head in the sand.

Look, the government are not going to lower the price, as it will impact their taxes, and as for the myth that not buying from shell or esso or BP, this is total rubbish as it is these companies that take it out of the ground and own the refineries, so no matter where you buy your fuel, you buy from them.

Not all crude is the same either. Most people think crude is thick black liquid. this isn't true. Crude from Venezuela (PDVSA) is the thick black stuff, where as crude from Libya is (Al Brega, 1 of 7 crudes out of Libya)a 'sweet crude' it's the colour of Honey and is called 'The beautiful Crude' as it hardly needs any refining. Nigeria is also a sweet crude (Bonny light crude Oil, BLCO) Nigeria being the 5th largest crude producer in the world.

REBCO (Russian Export Crude Oil) is what obviously come out of Russia at the moment it is one of the biggest field and they can charge what they want for it, they also produce (LNG (liquid Natural Gas) LPG (Liquid petroleum Gas) but it is difficult to move and you need special refineries to convert it to usable fuel.

Colorado has a massive oil field but it is locked up in the sand, difficult to extract i.e. expensive.

There is also the south Atlantic Oil field, as yet this hasn't been extracted but estimates put it at around 6 Billion Barrels.

Read about the rapeseed crop here in the UK and they are (finally exposing the myth that it is good for the planet, when it is blantantly obvious it isn't. It is the Bio fuel gold rush that is one of the factors pushing up the price of food (as well as the price of oil and the bad weather last year with floods here, drought in Oz and the worst winter in 100 years in China)

Wheat alone has almost tripled in 18 months.

Please point out which paper all this is from...

But, dan, i'm sure you knew all this anyway.

Martin

P.S. Oh, forgot

I only mention the enviroment because some people believe it is man damaging it.

I am of the belief that Global warming is natural, like it has been for millions of years.

If you are using bio diesel for financial reasons then this is really a false economy as it is one of the resons for higher food prices. additionally, if we use millions of tons of bio diesel and less petrol/diesel the oil companies will need to put the price up to cover the loss of selling less fuel, to make the same returns.

[davep]

Maybe LPG Conversions is the way (unless your diesel)

[dan roberts]

Martin,

I apologise. You are the man with the global fuel crisis answers, and I underestimated that.
Those beautifully scripted, long and laborious scriptures of yours really have highlighted to me why you are there with your best photo possible in view, chatting away on a web site not designed for masterminds, but still, there you are, Billy Big Bananas with his cutting edge political stance on global warming and basic know it all attitude to everyone, be littling anyones attempts to earn a pound or two and ranting on all about the stuff you've read on ITV Nightscreen.
Martin The Carpet Cleaning Whizz Kid.

Wicked.

Dan

[richie]

Dan,

There is no need for your comments/insults towards Martin.  Just because what he says is beyond your liking does not give you the right to slag him.

Richie.

[The Great One]

Thanks Richie.

Dan, I really wish I did have all the answers, sadly I don't. I was simply trying to clarify to you that I do not get my info from a newspaper.

I have been involved with the commodity industry in a certain capacity for about 3 years, so I know a little about oil and other commodities, it is from my own experience.

Neither do I know everything about CC, if I knew everything then life would be extremely boring. I don't mind banter on here, had a fair bit with Len, insults show how angry you are, you were beliitling me, not the other way around. I was simply & politely (as I could under you barrage of insults) answering your posts.

You can research all I have written, if I am wrong I will gladly hold my hands up & apoogise.

I cycle a lot to my clients and to price jobs up, not for an GW impact, it's simply to save money on bleeding fuel, although using the bio diesel will save you a few quid a month which is great, it is cancelled out by the increase in food prices., Bio fuel is just one of the reasons for the increase along with higher fuel prices & weather impact. It was just a simple fact that the more goes into bio fuel production the less enters the food chain, this creates a supply and demand issue and hence the price rises.

I chose a picture I had handy at the time (it's about 6 years old now) put one up of yourself if mine hurts you so much, didn't realise my stunning, model handsomeness : made you so uncomfortable?

Sorry you are so agrieved (spelling) but your anger is misdirected.

Martin

[from edge2edge]

Reference Martin606. They say the proof is in the pudding(or something like that) and i have spoken at length to Martin from Brighton reference host carpet cleaning and found him very helpful and informative.Comes across as a nice guy who is happy to impart his knowledge to others.Just the kind of guy that gives this forum a good name.Alan(swindon)

[stevegunn]

What about this

www.yorkshiregreenfuels.co.uk/index.asp

[PaulKing]

very cheap and like cleaning you get what you pay for.

 On the green forums they take a bit of stick. as they are a pain to clean

[mark_roberts]

What about gas.

Was speaking to a taxi driver today who drives a V6 Merc.  Its gas and he was paying 55p a litre at the pump.  Gets about 25mpg.

I know you cant convert diesel put maybe a petrol van converted would be the way to go.

Mark

[The Great One]

Not sure on this one but I think to convert to LPG costs about £1800+ depending on car, age etc.

Maybe the best we can do is get some 5 gallon can and fill up at todays price, as in about 2-3 weeks it's gonna go up again by between 2-5p

Brent (futures) up to $135 for Julys prices yesterday.

Regards

Martin

[Ken Wainwright]

It's not nice having to pay out more for your fuel, but is it really such a big deal?

I typically fill my tank with 70 litres of fuel (it's an 80 litre tank). This typically lasts me for 2 to 3 weeks. Lets average it out at 2.5 weeks.

At £0.89 per litre that works out at about £25 per week.

At £1.26 per litre that works out at about £35 per week.

This all equates to about £2 extra per working day compared with a little over a year ago. Over the next year it could well double up to about £4 extra per working day.

It's not a lot of money when you look at the bigger picture of fuel costs. Well, not for my business.

We can't change what's happening, so don't worry about it, just plan for it.

Chill out.

Safe and happy driving
Ken

[carpet guy]

Well spoken Martin, some on forums have an inferiority complex which they can only express through aggression or attempts to ridicule.

[spencer davies]

I think carpet guy is right, it seems to be a reaction that is typical of someone who finds someone's intellectual capacity intimidating, some of the comments directed are totally unnecessary and uncalled for. 

 

S

[The Great One]

Hi

Thanks for all the positive guys, realy appreciated.

Regards

Martin

[Len Gribble]

Got a job in Finchley tomorrow customer knows I will put up my price in pounds not pence. I live in Kent but they want the best.


Martin

Have to agree you are one strange looking, sorry was looking at Gunnies, mesmerising aren’t they.

Len

[Neil Williams]

At £0.89 per litre that works out at about £25 per week.
At £1.26 per litre that works out at about £35 per week.
This all equates to about £2 extra per working day

It annoys me like nothing else that
a) The Desert Bunnies are holding the world to ransom
and
b) That our Mickey Mouse goverment could drop the price by 20 pence and lose no real term revenue

But back at street level unless you are driving hundreds of miles per day it really doesn't make enough difference to slap a huge rise to each job.

[spindle]

martin might be able to answer this........if he hasnt already somewhere in this post

how much per litre is pure tax???

saw diesel today hither green 133.9 pl

[Neil Williams]

how much per litre is pure tax???

Somewhere near the 70% mark, hence why when the basic price of crude oil goes up so does the revenue gained by the chancellor.

[spencer davies]

They just took another hiding in Crewe, if they refuse to listen to the general public they will be gone after the next election.


S

[Len Gribble]

And did you hear GB response, think a lot of labour MP’S are having second thoughts.

Len

[elliott cleaning]

Neil
What's with the Desert Bunnies holding the world to ransom?
They don't decide the price of oil.  It's the world markets that fix the price.  Supply & demand is the crucial factor.  With emerging markets of India & China requiring a large demand, prices are driven up.   Your Desert bunnies just sit there in amazement and rub their hands together not believing their good fortune.
Remember also that Russia is now also a major player in the supply of gas & oil.   And what's with Brent crude sucked from below our North Sea trading at $130 plus today. Thats you holding yourself to ransom.  Nothing to do with the guys who wear tea-towels on their head

[spindle]

as i understand the news yesterday...........

stock traders are responsible.........betting futures that the price will rise..so they can get hefty bonuses

[elliott cleaning]

Spindle
Traders on the futures market can only gamble and only do so as a rule on certainties.   If the demand is not there they would come a cropper.  It's you, me and everyone else who can't seem to live without oil that drives up the price.   If I could get you and every other second person to stop driving their cars/vans, powering their truckmounts, not plugging in their portables, you would be amazed at how fast the price of oil would drop

[richie]

Today i pulled in to a Texaco Garage to fuel up with diesel & petrol.  I lifted the diesel nozzel & thats when i noticed the price.....134.9    & petrol was 117.9     I replaced the nozzle & drove off to the next station (BP) that was charging a mere 127.9 for diesel & 114.9 for petrol  :   Im sure diesel will be hitting 150 by he turn of the year.

Richie.

[The Great One]

Hi

Ok, I will do my best here.

The recent (last few months) price madness is basically because of the traders.

As the value of the dollar has dropped, people have moved their money out of the FX and into the commodity markets, as oil has risen on this trading, every other commodity has gone up. As an example, scrap prices have doubled in some countries, UK price FOB (free on Board) was at £131 in November, this month it is at £320+. It costs more for the scrap to melt into steel than it does for the finished steel.

So, now people are trading crude for July (futures)  the price has gone up from $128 to $135 (now dropped to about $132 closing of brent market on 23/05/08) This means that in about 3 weeks prices will rise again as the future price (July) has gone up, so everything from food to heating fuel, jet fuel & diesel goes up (10% of a barrell is jet fuel, 25% is refined into diesel)

Oil companies are also trading on their own crude futures profiting twice (double (dipping).

There is also a huge demand from both India and China, with the recent earthquake in china, they now need even more fuel, cement prices will rise as they will be buying Millions of tons for rebuilding.

Tax on fuel right now stands at around 70%. This is mainly because the conservatives intorduced the tax esculator on fuel, although this was abolished the Government still put their tax on fuel (fuel duty + 17.5% VAT)

As for using less oil, this won't bring the price down, it will push the price up. Oil companies are in business to make money (lots of it) and if usage was to drop by a huge amount, they would have to increase the price to get the same return. similar to say a CC working himself mental for £20  a room, then putting his prices up to £50 a room, less output for more money.

If you were to use an extra £25 (just on fuel alone) a week, over 50 weeks (2 week hols for which you are paying extra for jet Fuel) that's an extra £1250 your business has to pay just to run your business, this means the price has to go up, this may mean you will price yourself out of the market (I said MAY) Plus you are paying extra for car tax, ins, your food costs more, mortgage is higher, heating bills are higher etc, etc.

Regards

Martin

[from edge2edge]

£1.32 per litre at Texaco  Swindon yesterday.It seems to go up almost daily.I do a lot of miles and this is starting to really concern me.Alan (Swindon)

[Ian Gourlay]

Martin

as the Statistics man

Could you tell me by what % Fuel Duty has risen since 1997


How does this compare with inflation?

[The Great One]

1995 54p Tax 39.4p

1996 55.8p Tax 42.9p

2000 76.2p Tax 58.6p

2005 91p Tax 60.6p

2007 95.1p Tax 63.7p

Thefuel escalator  (intro'd by the Conservatives) forced prices up from one of the lowest in Europe to now one of the most expensive. When it was first added, fuel prices rose by 3 pence a litre and tax contributed to 72.8% of the total cost. By 1997 the escalator had added 11.1p to the cost of unleaded petrol and was at 75%. It didn't get any better when the conservatives left office and Gordon Brown took over, as the escalator increased and 3 pence was added per litre. This took tax up to an incredible 81.5% of the total price of fuel.

The esculator was scrapped in 1999, but obviously petrol goes up by 4-6p a year through the budgets, last tax rise was scrapped. the tax includes 17.5% VAT.

British drivers pay two taxes on petrol they buy at the pump and fuel campaigners complain about the fact that VAT is charged on the cost of fuel and the duty and feel it should only be calculated on the cost of the fuel for a fairer petrol price.

As of 1 October 2007 effective rates of duty for non-road fuels increased by 2 ppl. These rates are set to be increased by the same percentage as the main road fuels on 1 April 2008 and again on 1 April 2009.

From 1 October 2007 duty rates for unleaded petrol, leaded petrol, aviation gasoline and other heavy oil used as road fuel were increased by the same percentage as the main road fuels.

From 2007-10-01 the main road fuel (petrol and diesel) duty rate in the UK is GBP£0.5035 per litre. The rate for biodiesel and bioethanol is £0.3035. Value Added Tax (VAT), currently at 17.5%, is also charged on the price of the fuel and on the duty. At a pump price of 100p/litre (typical for unleaded as at November 2007), this would put the combined tax at 65.24p/litre, or approximately USD$4.84 per gallon. Thus without tax, the retail price would be 34.76p per litre, making a combined tax rate of 188%.

(Most of this info has been copied & pasted as I couldn't be bothered writing it all out) Google Fuel Tax UK and you will get all this info and more besides.

When the market opens again at 8am on tuesday I think it will surge again to $135 (Brent) and may settle back to $132/33, seems to drop after midday.

As for inflation I don't agree with the fact that it is kept artifically low, as mortgage & fuel are not included in inflation calculations!

Regards

Martin

[Ian Gourlay]

By your figures Martin in the 5years 2000 to 2005 the Government increased Fuel duty 2p Helping the motorist

hardly 4p to 6p a year  as claimed by you. and VAT remained consistent at 17.5%

VAT has always been added to price of fuel since it was introduced

Why have the oil companies not increased the refining capacity of Diesel hence the increase deferential, when at one time disel was less than petrol

[The Great One]

Hi

I said the price of peterol goes up 4-6p

95-2000 up by 22p (4.4p average)

2000-05 up by 15p (3p average)

1995-2008 up by 74p+ (5.6p average)

VAT has been added sine 1908 (I think).

Refineries have to refine crude into all it derivatives, including Diesel, Jet fuel, Bunker Fuel, CST 180, Heating Oil, Bitumen, Naptha, kerosene, gasolines & lubricants etc, etc. Their refining capacity can vary depending on the size of the refinery, say from 30,000 to 100,000 barells a day (of crude).

As the oil producing countries feel that supply is meeting demand they won't open the taps to bring more to the market. At the moment it is not demand pushing up the price, it's the hedge fund managers speculating on future oil price.

Regards

Martin

[dan roberts]

What a Bell End

[The Great One]

Hi Dan

You been looking in that mirror again

[dan roberts]

How rude!!

Charlie Big Potatoes has a vicious tongue.

 

[Phillip Mold]

I know its not a lot, but you can get 3% or nearly 4p per litre off. Use a shell master card, I tried to post a link on here bit it won't let me

[The Great One]

Brighton (paradise) this morning:

Unleaded £1.11.9

Diesel £1.21.9

Regards

Martin

Could it BE any sunnier?

1 Month later

Unleaded £1.16.9

Diesel £129.9

Regards

Martin

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

£ 91.00 to fill up my Transporter today - wasn't that long ago I could fill it up for less than £ 70 - daylight robbery !!

[murky]

I have just been told by the garage I went to that he wont get anymore deliveries after Friday as the tanker drivers are definatly going on strike.

Then he will only get a delivery 1 in 5 expected deliveries.

Dont mean to panic you but.................................

Murky

[neil 47]

I saw it at £1.35  & 5 mackeral a litre, on the lizard today   



Neil

[Joe H]

Its Shell drivers on strike from Friday (unless settlement)

So it wont afect all outlets. No panic