|
election coming and the eagles did tour
|
As some may already know, I work for one of the big supermarkets but it doesn't mean I have loyalty to them!
The cynic in me says that petrol prices are down to , probably not profit making, just for publicity. The diesel prices are being kept at the higher level as many taxis, couriers etc use diesel and need to use it whatever the price. So, in effect, the supermarkets are using diesel drivers to support petrol prices.
Don't forget, 7p a litre is over 30p a gallon, over £4 a tank difference!
Thats a lot of money!
|
"Thats a lot of money!"
And even more if you can remember that diesel was 35p a gallon cheaper than petrol when you first bought a diesel car!!
|
|
Why are we so out of step with most of (if not the rest of) Europe when it comes to the price of diesel fuel? As diesel has been reduced before, when there have been cuts in the price of petrol, I cannot see how no reduction is justified in this instance.
|
Why are we so out of step with most of (if not the rest of) Europe when it comes to the price of diesel fuel? As diesel has been reduced before, when there have been cuts in the price of petrol, I cannot see how no reduction is justified in this instance.
Supermarkets are businesses, not public services. I'd say a large proportion of petrol buyers fill up their cars after buying the week's groceries, whereas a large proportion of diesel buyers are high mileage business users and not interested in buying anything in the stores themselves.
|
Supermarkets are businesses, not public services. I'd say a large proportion of petrol buyers fill up their cars after buying the week's groceries, whereas a large proportion of diesel buyers are high mileage business users and not interested in buying anything in the stores themselves.
What King Arthur says is right but I'm not sure their customers will share the business reasoning. Be interesting to see how quickly one of the store groups broke ranks if there were a public backlash.
|
|
|
|
"Thats a lot of money!" And even more if you can remember that diesel was 35p a gallon cheaper than petrol when you first bought a diesel car!!
I can remember when petrol WAS 35p a gallon!
|
According to the nice man on the news there is a shortage of Diesel fuel, so don't hold your breath hoping for a price drop.
Strange, as I thought both petrol and diesel where almost a by product of the same "cracking" process.
|
According to the nice man on the news there is a shortage of Diesel fuel, so don't hold your breath hoping for a price drop. Strange, as I thought both petrol and diesel where almost a by product of the same "cracking" process.
>>
But, as I understand it, diesel is closer to heating oil in the cracking order and as such eats into the amount of heating oil you can get from the same gallon of crude so you can have pretty much one or the other. Therefore it is the wrong time of year for a glut of diesel as the demand for heating oil is higher in the winter, for obvious reasons. Hence I think you'll find that the surplus petrol production is due to them having to 'crack' more crude to keep up with DERV and heating oil demand and thus petrol supply outstripping current demand which is where market forces come into play and the oil companies find themselves better off selling the petrol at a discount rather than paying to bunker it.
At least that's how a friend who worked in one of the local refineries explained it to me many, many moons ago, I presume the same still applies as 'they cannae change the laws of physics, Jim!'
Cockle
|
|
|
|
>>I can remember when petrol WAS 35p a gallon!>>
I can remember paying even less...:-)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
|
Still got no answer as to why we are so out of step with the rest of Europe. Do they not have supermarkets in other European countries that sell petrol and diesel? If so, I doubt they are selling it at more than the price of petrol.
|
Indeed they do and in France at least diesel is about half the price of petrol!
|
Thanks for that Cockle - I bow to your superior knowledge and not expect a fall in diesel prices before the Spring. Oh well, at least It'll give me something to moan about until then!
|
Hello.
Morrisons have lowered theires to 76.9 now.
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
|
Its not just the supermarkets battling. The BP that I usually go to was 4p cheaper for regular unleaded than the week before and as a major motorway services they don't usually fluctuate like the supermarkets often do.
I don't really understand the reasoning that business users (taxis, couriers etc) have to buy diesel therefore its price doesn't fall in step with petrol. Petrol is needed just as much and no-one I know of will simply refuse to buy petrol because of its price. I certainly don't see private users as less dependent on petrol.
Moving here from the US little over a year ago I initially suffered "sticker shock" when I worked out how much petrol cost here. After a while the reality is that no matter what it costs, if you want to drive a car you will have to pay whatever price it is being sold for. No point stressing over pump prices, or the rise/fall of a few pence here and there. Even if prices were to be halved, the extra £10 left over in my wallet every week wouldn't make any difference to my quality of life.
|
|
"Indeed they do and in France at least diesel is about half the price of petrol!"
And that's almost entirely due to taxation differences.
Going back to the chemistry, when you break down crude oil you get a certain proportion of different sub-types of hydrocarbons, pretty much regardless of whether you can sell them. So there will be a certain percentage of crude that you can turn into heavy tars, a proportion that you can turn into diesels and fuels oils, a proporsion that you can turn into petrol, etc, etc. The proportions can be fiddled with, but not changed in a major way.
20 years ago, diesel was to some extent an unwanted by-product or producing petrol. There simply wasn't enough demand for the amount being produced, so it was cheap. Now that simply isn't the case, thanks to the rise in the proportion of diesel cars. Take that in conjunction with the demand for winter heating oil (almost the same sub-category) and you've got all the conditions for an increase in the diesel price.
In fact, if diesels become ever more popular (driving up demand for diesel relative to petrol) there may well come a time when there is no economic advantage in driving a diesel.
All that, of course, neglects the effects of taxation on the whole shebang.
V
|
|
So what is the government's argument for having such a different stance on diesel fuel tax to the rest of Europe (although it was the case before Labour came to power)?
|
|
Called at the Shell filling station on the A50 yesterday. Diesel extra was 88.9p/litre. At the Derby Shell on Ashbourne Rd, only 4 miles away, the price of Shell extra diesel was 80.9p/litre.Why does the same fuel cost 36p/gallon more on the A50? Are we being ripped off on major roads? This road is not a motorway.
|
So what is the government's argument for having such a different stance on diesel fuel tax to the rest of Europe (although it was the case before Labour came to power)?
>>
As far as I can make it out:
1) Governments in continental European countries sussed out a long time ago that diesel-engined vehicles tend to be a lot more economical and therefore their use should be encouraged, by making the fuel significantly cheaper. I don't know whether the fact that rapeseed oil (I think?) makes up about 5% of it helps, but it would seem fairly logical.
2) HM Government formed the view a long time ago that diesel-engined vehicles are dirty, noisy and smelly, and thus their fuel should be taxed more highly, presumably as a deterrent. Obviously, technology has moved on considerably since then, but why stop a nice little earner when you're onto one?
If anyone has a better (or indeed more accurate) theory, I'll be glad to hear it.
|
Each country raises it's taxes in different ways. In this isle fuel, alcohol and tobacco have been traditional areas where duty has been loaded most heavily, other countries no doubt have their own favourite charities they can collect shedloads from, be it income tax or otherwise.
Whatever way they choose to take it, they'll grab the same total amount anyway, so it's all down to which particular vices or hobbies you have as to how hard you're hit. Now if they let us off fuel duty and tobacco tax and decided it's about time health foods and gym membership took their turn, I'd be quids in.
We need a chancellor with vision...
|
|
|
I was in Dinan, France 2 weeks ago and I reckon about twenty to twenty five per cent less than petrol judging by the prices I saw. The gap seems to be closing but it is still significant.
|
you know the best way to start a price war????????????????????
if everyone stopped buying from,,,say shell...........
and i mean everyone
then they would lower the price to get the customers back
then if it was co-ordinated properly,,,pick on the next petrol supplier
wow,,,,,,we could all have cheap fuel....
what are your ideas??
|
Oh god, is it time for this one again already ?
Here's the main roblem;
It isn't the petrol company driving the cost up, its tax. The most a petrol company can give you is a few pence a litre.
Therefore, unless you are prepared to boycott the governement, which is not neccessarily a bad idea, you need to think again.
And the trouble is, that's not fashionable is it ?
|
Yes, I am sick of this silly suggestion too, it is from America (where else) where completely different situation exists.
A large proportion of fuel sales are now through supermerkets.
The brand on the pump does not denote the manufacturer of the petrol, merely the retailer.
You won't hurt the fuel companies one iota, but you could make a private franchise-holder lose his/her business.
Even if the fuel companies halved the price of fuel, it would still be the amongst the most expensive in the world, as we have rate of duty which is three times higher than the price of the fuel.
|
|
And to emphasise what Schnitzel says, you're attacking the franchise holder, rather than the nasty horrible capitalist oil company.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
