Hi All
After becoming almost "obsessed" with fuel prices after buying a petrol car,today I was amazed to see,at my local Tesco the difference between Petrol and Diesel down to 0.9p a litre. 93.9 for petrol and 94.8 for diesel.I know we are approaching hotter weather and usually has an effect on Diesel prices,but never seen it this low. WHen I sold my Passat TDi before buying my Vectra Direct,the difference was around 6p a litre.Are there any other reasons for the difference coming so low? Incidentally are there any reasons that both prices have jumped significantly in the last few months? It seems that since the Chancellor spoke about putting on the 2p tax in September,the prices have jumped so that they will "covenientally" be around the £1 a litre mark by September
Seriously considering trading in for a Diesel now !!!
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The price of fuel seems to follow the price of crude oil, I don't understand why as most of the pump price is made up of tax, distribution and refining costs. I also don't understand the large variation in pump prices across the country.
The gap between petrol and diesel narrows in summer and widens in winter because diesel is used for heating oil but refineries can't easily adjust the proportion of petrol : diesel.
Having said that I understand "supply and demand" so I guess there's no real reason for increases, it's just demand pricing.
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there was a garage on the A3 in London (a major player) that has had diesel as much as 12p more expensive recently for about a year. it is always on 99.9 so I presume that the difference is now only 5/6p
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ps - I presume that the difference in tax is still 3p a litre
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AFAIK duty has been same on petrol and diesel for some years, 50.35p/litre since the budget - www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2007/bn53.htm
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I noticed the same at our local Tesco store the other day. However, the 1p price differential only lasted for about 1 day then the diesel price up a couple of pence.
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IMO the major influence on variations in retail fuel pricing is the control of the market by a handful of producers/refiners and distributors. I'm sure there would be gasps at the suggestion of a cartel, but there is plenty of demand and insufficient competition. Any 'unusual' prices are short-term, and prompted by local conditions.
Of course, the fact that we have just about the highest fuel prices in Europe is down to taxation. In the Irish republic, fuel is about two-thirds of the price in the UK, and diesel is cheaper than petrol.
I like fuel economy, so I like diesel and c50 mpg; higher cost to buy the car but lower depreciation. But I can't, for now, abandon petrol totally, so my other car is a petrol. And there's nowt to beat a nice petrol six - like a BMW or a Porsche - in terms of aural pleasure and the joy of progressive power delivery throughout a big rev range.
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Do these wide variations in the difference between petrol and diesel occur in the rest of Europe and do they have the same fluctuations in the price of the two fuels that we also see in the UK?
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