UK diesel shortage

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Wed 1 Jun 2011 13:30
UK diesel shortage - Bobbin Threadbare

Check this out: www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/85...l

I don't imagine I'll need to run a diesel myself in the foreseeable future, but diesel cars/vans must be the backbone of the UK private tranport system!

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Wed 1 Jun 2011 16:03
UK diesel shortage - WellKnownSid

Anyone read Last Light by Alex Scarrow?!

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Wed 1 Jun 2011 16:09
UK diesel shortage - Bobbin Threadbare

Didn't they make a telly program out of this a few years ago? I'm sure it had Robert Carlyle in it. It sounds like an awesome book; I just amazon-ed it.

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Wed 1 Jun 2011 18:58
UK diesel shortage - jamie745

Bobbin's invented a new verb!!

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Wed 1 Jun 2011 21:21
UK diesel shortage - Sofa Spud

In the early days of diesel road vehicles, wasn't diesel oil a by-product of the petrol refining industry, and it was cheap because it was a surplus.

Isn't it also the case that when refining crude oil, the proportions of products produced - e.g petrol, diesel etc. is fixed for a given grade of crude.

So as diesel engines became more and more popular, diesel fuel long ago ceased to be a surplus by-product and now maybe there's a surplus of petrol produced, which could that be why petrol is cheaper than diesel.

I still go for the 35% better economy though, even if the fuel costs a bit more.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 01/06/2011 at 21:22

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Thu 2 Jun 2011 10:04
UK diesel shortage - Bobbin Threadbare

I thought the reason that diesel is pricier in the UK was an artificial tax reason? Other European countries have it a lot cheaper.

Yes, excellent new verb - you heard it here first and the credit is indubitably mine. LOL.

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Thu 2 Jun 2011 11:28
UK diesel shortage - unthrottled

For once Britain has a tax policy that (almost) makes sense. In the UK, derv and gasoline are taxed at the same rate (on a volumetric basis). In all other European countries, derv is taxed at a lower rate and is hence cheaper. On a gravimetric basis, derv should be taxed 15% higher than gasoline, and 10% higher on energy content.

The shortage is caused by Europe now having the wrong mix of refineries for the cars on the road. There are too many catalytic crackers (which produce more gasoline) and not enough hydrocrackers (which produce more diesel). As such we export gasoline to the US and import diesel.

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Fri 3 Jun 2011 05:18
UK diesel shortage - 1litregolfeater

me no unnerstan

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Thu 2 Jun 2011 16:06
UK diesel shortage - jamie745

Say indubitably again, i find it somehow...sexy...and...sophisticated.

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Thu 2 Jun 2011 16:42
UK diesel shortage - Bobbin Threadbare

Is there a specific accent you'd like to read it in? I'm the mimicry-meister. But thank you.

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Thu 2 Jun 2011 16:53
UK diesel shortage - jamie745

Very posh english secretary would be nice. Maybe in some specs?

I feel we're getting off topic.

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Sun 5 Jun 2011 10:39
UK diesel shortage - Roly93

This is a bit of an issue to be honest as I am from Milford Haven and most of the refineries are either not working or up for sale. The fact is as someone else has said, diesel in an abundant by product of refining which until diesel cars became so prevalent, was very much a 'cinderella' fuel. So much so that in the 70's and 80's the oil companies spent millions building CAT-cracker plants (like the one in Pembroke) to get more of the desirable lighter fuels from the abundant heavier fuel oils. Now the tables have turned and petrol isn't so much iun demand. Even the MOD after years of powering huge busses and trucks on what used to be called CIVGAS (low octane petrol) now all use diesel.

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