I notice that the price of petrol is creeping up.
Given that uncertainty over Iraq has decreased (allegedly) and the falling dollar vs the pound (1.82 - I've just checked) why aren't we seeing price falls.
I know what my cynical thoughts are, but does anyone know of valid reason / excuse.
Regards
Les
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Not sure this is so is it? If you go to the
www.aapetrolbusters.co.uk/
site and look at the trends, the national average price has been stable for three months, and is currently lower than December?
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I guess it depends where you live - here prices have been nudging up over that past couple of weeks. Unleaded at the local Tesco has just risen to 77.5 - most stations have added a penny to make it 77.9
... but even if pump prices are stable, why haven't we seen a fall given the rise of the pound against the dollar. Pump prices certainly seem to rise whenever the pound falls because oil is priced in dollars.
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Totally agree with sentiments but do remember that oil is purchased around two/three months in advance.
Unleaded round my way currently 73.9p.
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Totally agree with sentiments but do remember that oil is purchased around two/three months in advance. Unleaded round my way currently 73.9p.
73.9 good grief fuel in the south is about 77.9 and still creeping up as if we did not notice, just fiddling so and so's on the make as usual.
rustbucket (the original)
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Definitely edging up where I live - nudging 80p/litre at some garages - that's about 4p more than before Xmas.
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I am not sure if a barrel of crude has gone up the same amount as the dollar has gone down but if anyone is interested below are the daily mean value (inter-bank) of the $ against £
29/01/04 1.8219
29/12/03 1.7715
29/11/03 1.7299
29/10/03 1.6989
29/09/03 1.6594
29/08/03 1.5769
Therefore we should be seeing lower prices coming through in the next month or so if prices are set 3 months after purchase. I am never sure how much difference the exchange rates make. Sure if it is adversely affecting the oil companies then the prices rise but I ma too cynical to think that they would offer lower prices when they could pocket the difference. Sure it is a free market but then if they all agreed then.....(I am not suggesting that they do anything illegal like entering into price fixing agreements!)
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I'm not too worried. The price of veggie oil seem static.
Only joking Chancelor!
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Graham, you spoke too soon, just been to ASDA, the 3 litre bottles are up from £1.37 to £1.57 (up 6.7p/litre) and white spirit has doubled in 18 months!
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74.7p at the local shell in leighton buzzard for unleaded, cheaper in Dunstable!
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73.9 good grief fuel in the south is about 77.9 and still creeping up....
That seems to be the average price in Oxfordshire - some outlets are 76.9p/litre.
Go to Swindon and the supermarkets and Esso prices are currently 73.9p/litre.
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Yup - creeping up in Spain too. Diesel is now a whopping .719 Euros (about 49.6 p) per litre now. Mind you in Gibraltar at the Safeway station (they operate the same fuel discount/store spend scheme as in UK) our last fill was 34.9 pence per litre.
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DD,
Where in Oxfordshire can you get petrol at 76.9p, everywhere N and W of Oxford is currently selling around 78-80p even the Sainsburies supermarkets.
regards
Ian L.
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I remember years ago queueing up at a garage to fill up my Vauxhall Viva because in the morning petrol was rising to a massive 50p a gallon. It would be interesting to know how prices compare in real terms since 1975 ......any mathematical minded folks out there?
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Watford seems to have the cheapest fuel in the country, compared to Bournemouth, Reading, Slough, London, Leicester, Sheffield, Leeds.... that i've visited in the last few months.
ALL my local stations - 2 Shells, Total, Esso, ASDA have been at 72.9p for unleaded and 73.9p for diesel for ages now.
Can anywhere in the UK beat that?
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It matters not a jot how far back or forward oil is bought at, it has little effect on current pump price. Oil companies will always look at the current market rather than how much less or more they have paid in three months. Profit is the name of the game, so if a world event means they can hike the price NOW (war, stroppy OPEC etc) then they will despite the fact the crude they are now using cost less three months ago when pre purchased. Competition or huge stocks of unsold crude or refined creep the price down. Some oil never gets used for years, just bought and sold and (electronically on paper) gets shipped round the world. As long is there a long term upward trend on the refined product then the companies are happy.
Having said that most profit comes from the retail operations (the coffee, sweeties, sarnies etc) than the fuel. So if you boycot a retail outlet on fuel price, they loose bigger time on the retail operation. Thats why the price creeps down again.
Its creeping up in the surrey / west london area too.
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barney100
The equivalent of your 50p in 1975 in today's money is £2.56.
Go to
wh.net/hmit/ppowerbp/pound_question.php
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From the figures given by CM re the pound/dollar exchange rate, the dollar has declined 16% against the pound between the end of August to the end of January.
We are long overdue for this to reflect in our forecourt pump prices
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OK, so oil prices are quoted in $s per barrel, but if you actually had need to (and I can't think of why, but) could you go out and buy just 1 barrel of crude oil? Or is that the bulk price :-)
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The oil companies will charge as much as they can get away with without frightening the customers off or allowing competitors to get an advantage. Same as solicitors, plumbers, car salesmen and anyone else who sells a good or service.
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In response to Hawesy1982 - Can anywhere in the UK beat that?
Shell petrol stations in Southampton, (by the university at least) 72.7p
Thats even cheaper than ASDA's!
Though Shell probably have the last laugh as trips to see the girlfriend ever weekend do tend to make the car thirsty :-)
How low can you go?
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That's almost worth me coming off the M27 on my way home!
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Why would the pound/US dollar exchange rate affect petrol prices?, does the UK buy its crude oil from the US?. Even if UK petrol is US sourced there is still no reason for it to cost so much. I just got back from Jamaica and the forecourt price for unleaded was the equivalent of 35 pence per litre which was quite surprising, diesel was even cheaper.
I can understand why petrol in the US is cheaper than the UK, but cannot fathom why a small, economically strapped Island can provide petrol at less than half the price of the very wealthy UK.
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1 very easy answer - an awful lot of tax.
As for the effect of the exchange rate, crude oil is bought and sold on the open market in dollars, the OPEC countrys also try and fix the price of crude in dollars therefore if the dollar falls against the pound you can buy more barrels of crude with your quid hence the cost of all oil based products in the UK should fall. Prices would stay the same in the US and other countrys with fixed dollar exchange rates since you still have to use just as many dollars for your oil.
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Why would the pound/US dollar exchange rate affect petrol prices?, does the UK buy its crude oil from the US?. Even if UK petrol is US sourced there is still no reason for it to cost so much. I just got back from Jamaica and the forecourt price for unleaded was the equivalent of 35 pence per litre which was quite surprising, diesel was even cheaper. I can understand why petrol in the US is cheaper than the UK, but cannot fathom why a small, economically strapped Island can provide petrol at less than half the price of the very wealthy UK.
You need to look at the purchasing parity figures for Jamaica to get a real idea of how the relative price compares. I would imagine the cost of most things is a fraction of here, but then so are wages; as a percentage of the average wage, petrol may well be more expensive than here.
This comparison makes the cost of fuel in the USA even cheaper than it seems but the main factor is tax: high here, low there. But then you get into philosophical and political discussions about the pros and cons of high- and low-tax economies. Seems to me that the low tax, winner-take-all model is great if you are a winner but not so good if you stack shelves for a living and need a heart op.
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Never knew about the crude oil being priced in US dollars, certainly explains exchange rate affecting prices, but doesn't the UK have their own crude oil supplies and refineries?.
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I believe that North Sea oil is of a very hih quality and not refined into petrol/diesel. I am not sure but think that it is called Brent Oil rather than Crude Oil.
As for Forex rates, this will only make a difference to the price at the pumps if the price of a barrel of oil has stayed the same. i tried to find historical rates but couldn't!
If oil is like gold, which is also priced in US Dollars, it might explain why prices haven't come down. The price of gold has increased but as the value of the dollar has decreased then there is no net gain/loss/benefit....
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The price of gold has increased but as the value of the dollar has decreased then there is no net gain/loss/benefit....
Unless you have ignored those who advised you to purchase gold rather than maintain a US currency savings account, that account comprising of dollars I declined to convert to pounds when I moved here last year as I thought "I'll just wait until the exchange rate gets better than the current 1.57USD to 1GBP".
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I declined to convert to pounds when I movedhere last year as I thought "I'll just wait until the exchange rate gets better than the current 1.57USD to 1GBP".
How long you planning on waiting?!!!
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The international currency for buying and selling oil is US Dollars - always has been.
Price of a litre of fuel for your car in Qatar = 10 or 11p per litre!
The rest of the UK price is tax.
As they say - only certainties in life are Death and taxes.
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In January, the UK had the highest diesel price in Europe, with petrol also in the highest group.
www.see-search.com/business/fuelandpetrolpriceseur...m
This link makes interesting reading--but see also USA!
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Don't know about the rest of Europe but around here the price of petrol has risen from 72.9p per litre to 75.9p per litre in just over three weeks! Strange because I'm sure I heard that the pound was at its highest level against both the Euro and the mighty dollar for something like 14 months so if it's currency then surely it should have gone down?
Cockle
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74.9 in Watford on the A41. Suppose to be the cheapest fuel in UK! We have BP,Shell, Asda and Sainsburys on one roundabout and all one price. Why buy inferior supermarket fuel ?
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I saw unleaded at 80.9 near Milton Keynes the other day. I thought I was imagining things...
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There is obviously price fixing going on. There a plenty of stations around the E Midlands with unleaded at 79.9p and diesel at 80.9p
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I should have said - it's 76.9 all around me here
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Here in Poole we are sat on an oilfield and have Fawley Refinery less than 30 miles away, yet we pay 79.9 for U/l and 80.9 for the smelly stuff. Go figure.
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16p increase per gallon by September 2004.
10p due to OPEC cutting production and rest due to the Chancellor`s delayed budget tax hike.
It`s the £1000 tax disc that you also might want to ponder on if this shower get back in power after the next election.
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Too true mate - and they\'ve been doing it with everything else from your pension to council tax. They know they could never justify an open top marginal tax rate of 95% as in 1979 or was it 98%?, so they have found plenty of other ways to tax us into the ground - and for what?
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And did you notice how they started creeping up just after the Budget - the same Budget that imposed no increases in fuel duty until September??
CG
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Paid 75.7p/l for unleaded at Sainbury's in Swindon on Thursday. Then got a further 58p off the total bill when I handed over my shopping reciept to the cashier.
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I saw unleaded at 80.9 near Milton Keynes the other day. I thought I was imagining things...
BP at Bradwell Abbey (A422 w/b just short of the A5) regular diesel 83.9. Bought just enough to extinguish the low fuel light. The ultimate stuff 87.9 iirc. Not the first time I've visited with just fumes in the tank, and it's always doing a roaring trade.
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74.9 in Watford on the A41. Suppose to be the cheapest fuel in UK! We have BP,Shell, Asda and Sainsburys on one roundabout and all one price. Why buy inferior supermarket fuel ?
I buy mine at the Tescos just down the road from there for the clubcard points, the amount of diesel I go through means a week's free shopping once every three months!
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Presumably you still get the clubcard points even if you pay by another means? (All Star?)
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I'm getting 20l drums of vegetable oil from Costco for 47p/litre, and am safe in the knowledge that I'm not helping to fund mad Tony's destruction of our once great nation!
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Getting a Astra Duel Fuel this Tuesday. Only 37p per gallon if thats the right expression and no London congestion charge!!
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Getting a Astra Duel Fuel this Tuesday. Only 37p per gallon....
I think you'll find thats 37p per litre actually.
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74.9 in Watford on the A41. Suppose to be the cheapest fuel in UK! We have BP,Shell, Asda and Sainsburys on one roundabout and all one price. Why buy inferior supermarket fuel ?
If Shell is really so much better than supermarket, why do they feel that they have to reduce the price to be equal to supermarket price?
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Eat a lot of fried food eh ST? :)
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I'm getting 20l drums of vegetable oil from Costco for 47p/litre, and am safe in the knowledge that I'm not helping to fund mad Tony's destruction of our once great nation!
ST I have no personal experience, but I hear it's simple to filter the big bits out of used oil. Most restaurant/cafe owners will happily give it to you for free if you will collect it. You just choose what you want your exhaust to smell of. :-)
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76.5p in Aberdeen and they ALL charge the same price - Sainsbury's, ASDA, BP, Shell, etc. However, one BP was charging 79.9 - it's gone out of business though...surprise?
I think Gordy must be rubbing his hands at the prospect of 80p...
CP
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Filled up my 320d with Shell diesel in Bracknell on 2/4/04 at 76.9p/L, travelled to our holiday-break hotel in Fort William, did a lot of local touring around including the west coast (Mallaig) and up to Inverness & Culloden, then back to Fort William where after 801 miles I re-filled the tank with 61 litres of Esso at 80.9p/L (most others 82.9p/L).
MPG worked out incidentally at 59.7, so our friend Gordon isn't getting too much too often from me.
Oz (as was)
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I\'ve posted about this before. I don\'t think the point is how much petrol costs in any particular place around the country, it\'s that the price has been rising steadily for months, despite the strength of the pound against the dollar (although I recognise that crude prices have risen , but I don\'t think by enough to explain this - but I haven\'t got the data to prove that).
Remember that a lot of the cost of petrol to us is tax, so a small percentage rise at the pumps equates to a hefty rise in the non-tax cost. I think we\'re being taken for ride. Watch the price hikes when the pound starts to fall against the dollar.
... and don\'t be too quick to blame the government, look to the capitalist oil companies and their profits. Remenber that Shell in particular has to make good after mis-estimating \"their\" reserves.
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Oz - sounds like it may be worth me driving to Bracknell to fill up - down the road in Camberley, diesel is now around 81.9p per litre, one Esso garage at 80.5p which is where I filled up. Tesco at 79.9p, don't know about the local Sainsburys.
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This is no joke - there's a guy in Marlborough that sells UL at over 90p per litre. 90p! How he stays open I don't know. He is the only one for miles around, but even so. People must have more money than sense. He does offer a discount for cash though(!)
Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability.
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It's 94p a litre near my office in Chelsea, and still everyone drives 4 litre V8 Jeeps! Welcome to the home of more money than sense....
Gareth
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Oz - sounds like it may be worth me driving to Bracknell to fill up - down the road in Camberley, diesel is now around 81.9p per litre, one Esso garage at 80.5p which is where I filled up. Tesco at 79.9p, don't know about the local Sainsburys.
I live in Frimley; the cheapest place to fill up is usually the Esso garage at the village just south of M4 J11 - If you take the A33 route to J11 from just after Blackbushe. I pass that way reasonably often.
Its usually the cheapest locally showing on the AA fuelbusters site.
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I filled up with the oily stuff for 77.5p per litre at the Swindon Asda yesterday.
Most of the regional difference is probably down to other factors e.g. council tax, different delivery chrarges, rent etc. Recently the cost of crude has shot up due to OPEC cutting production so it's not all down to 'Fingers Brown' (although we are paying VAT on top of any price charge) and I don't expect the forecourts are making any more money. The refinerys however........
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Strangely enough my local shell has dropped diesel to 77.5 as well.
Hmmmm.....
I know a place that does it for 69.0!
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No, they haven't changed their prices. That's that theory out the window.
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Hmmm, Marlot I'm in Frimley too, and we don't seem to have a Shell garage nearby any more - the one that was walking distance from my house has gone over to Texaco. I don't go near the M4 or Reading and I only work locally so not too many opportunities to compare prices over a geographic area.
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75.9 at Esso, Pevensey (Sussex). I expect everyone knows about Petrolbusters, but for those who don't try:
www.aapetrolbusters.com/default.asp
for the best deals in your area.
CG
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Spotted on the A68 heading back to Newcastle a garage fourcourt price of 96.7p for unleaded.
Is this the dearest in the country?, closest to it I have seen in my local travels in the north has been 89.9.
Any advance on 96.7.
Mal.
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Super unleaded (or is it premium unleaded? I forget...) is 99p a litre in Chelsea.
Try harder, pauper boy ;-)
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Thanks guys. I have just endured 84.9p/L in Farnborough, having last week seen 86.9p/L somewhere in Scotland. I feel relieved.
Oz (as was)
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PS: Give credit where it's due: Shell diesel in Bracknell @ 76.9p.
Oz (as was)
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Esso petrol and diesel in Widnes yesterday - 76.9. Same as Morrisons supermarket half a mile away.
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At a local independant garage they are charging 93p for a litre. I drive past every day and I've never seen anyone stop for petrol. It's really an MOT station with a pump out the front, but I'm surprised they bother as it's so expensive they surely can't sell any.
Is this the most expensive petrol in the UK?
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Hello
If i was stuck for fuel i would buy it but i would not if i was able to go somewhere cheaper.
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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