Chancellor keeping an eye on fuel prices!

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grober

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Phew that's a relief - no chance of the oil companies, fuel distributers and retailers ripping us of then. :(
Oil has fallen from about $115 (£72) per barrel in June to about $84 per barrel, a decline of about a quarter. In comparison, petrol prices in the UK have fallen from a high of about 131.7p per litre in the summer to 124.22p - a decline of about 6%. Diesel dropped from 136.37p to 128.58p.
Oil has fallen from about $115 (£72) per barrel in June to about $84 per barrel, a decline of about a quarter.
BBC News - Osborne 'expects' fuel price drop after fall in oil price
Widely held to be due to the USA shale gas bonanza its partly offset in the UK by a drop in the value of the pound against the dollar as the US economy improves [ oil being traded in dollars]. During the past few months, the pound has weakened against the dollar. Whereas a pound bought $1.7165 at its height in the summer, it now buys $1.598 - a drop of 6.9%

However there was interesting discussion on radio 4 this morning that part of the effect is due to Saudi Arabia and OPEC losing control of their Oil supply/price . In the past Saudi Arabia controlled oil prices by simply turning off the tap [ production] a bit. It appears however that their internal domestic demands may now be restricting their room for manoevre? They use more oil than Brazil for example with a fraction of the population!
Discussion with Prof Nick Butler of Kings College starts 10mins 14 secs in- worth a listen. :dk: BBC Radio 4 - Today, 06/11/2014

Ps I'd like if possible to avoid the aspect concerning the role of government taxation policy in fuel prices as this aspect of fuel costs been done to death many times on here before . For the purposes of this thread lets take it as a given like death!
 
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Tbf it is 119.9 at our local fuel station in excitement I've treated the AMG to getting the top of the tank wet..... Although Super was 126.9 and diesel 124.9, I was almost tempted to fill the range rover but couldn't be bothered to stand their pumping out £130 in fuel.
 
Oil has fallen from about $115 (£72) per barrel in June to about $84 per barrel, a decline of about a quarter. In comparison, petrol prices in the UK have fallen from a high of about 131.7p per litre in the summer to 124.22p - a decline of about 6%. Diesel dropped from 136.37p to 128.58p.

Ps I'd like if possible to avoid the aspect concerning the role of government taxation policy in fuel prices as this aspect of fuel costs been done to death many times on here before . For the purposes of this thread lets take it as a given like death!

You can't avoid it.

For one thing the market price of mogas probably doesn't change as much as the crude it's made from (the purchase of the raw material is only part of the cost ... the refining & distribution of the finished product hasn't got any cheaper).

Then of course as we know only a small percentage of the pump price relates to the cost of purchasing the petrol/diesel - most of the rest is tax & duty, which again hasn't changed.

So a 25% drop in crude price yielding a 6% drop in forecourt pump prices doesn't sound too bad :dk:
 
Seems a very fair comment BTB500, just I have a gut feeling that difference in real terms should be more than 6%.
 
Dont forget to factor in that sterling is now weaker against the dollar compared to the summer so a bit will also be lost in exchange rates......
 
According to this

Pump pricing - Shell United Kingdom

only 33% of the price we pay comes from the cost of the petrol/diesel. If that reduces by say 1/5 (a guess) when the price of base crude drops by 1/4, then we save 1/5 of 33% ...

:confused:

I can't debate it, just consumer mentality tells me we are getting shafted, regardless?
 
IMHO you only have to look at the number of fuel forecourts that have closed/disappeared over the last 5 or 10 years to suspect that they probably aren't making an awful lot of profit out of us.
 
For one thing the market price of mogas probably doesn't change as much as the crude it's made from (the purchase of the raw material is only part of the cost ... the refining & distribution of the finished product hasn't got any cheaper).
:dk:
I would be more convinced of that arguement if the price of fuel on the forecourt appeared to go up as slowly as it went down. ;) These things obviously take time to work through the system but my suspicion is that a bit of judicious timing can earn people in the supply chain a tidy sum . :dk:
 
Ah, BTB500, I presume you are not talking about the oil companies themselves but independent retailers? Still, its doesn't take away from the fact that I feel as a consumer of petrol that we always get shafted when crude oil price changes.
 
Ah, BTB500, I presume you are not talking about the oil companies themselves but independent retailers?

Both really. If forecourts were goldmines the majors would be opening them as fast as they could, which I don't think is happening. I saw some figures somewhere on the rate at which the total number of forecourts was dropping in the UK ... will see if I can find them. Anecdotally I can think of loads that have shut down and no new ones that have been built.
 
Chancellor keeping an eye on fuel prices!

More accurately, Chancellor keeping his eye on the next election……….if he/they were sincere in their concern, they would have done something when it happened the several of other times during their tenure. It's amazing what things become important come election time or when it suits a political purpose.
 
Both really. If forecourts were goldmines the majors would be opening them as fast as they could, which I don't think is happening. I saw some figures somewhere on the rate at which the total number of forecourts was dropping in the UK ... will see if I can find them. Anecdotally I can think of loads that have shut down and no new ones that have been built.

I strongly suspect the oil companies & their retail divisions have no doubt with military precision pinpointed and constantly updated where they don't need to provide a basic necessity like a fuel outlet without affecting sales or profits?
 
Our local Esso has just been redeveloped. Tanks and pumps remain the same, the circus round it is now a three ring jobbie with a Costa and seating area, a much bigger shop and more parking - I guess for the all important - meet you just off the motorway at J29, quick meeting and back on the road. Fuel prices remain 3p pl higher than Asda which is just up the road by three quarters of a mile.
 
Both really. If forecourts were goldmines the majors would be opening them as fast as they could, which I don't think is happening. I saw some figures somewhere on the rate at which the total number of forecourts was dropping in the UK ... will see if I can find them. Anecdotally I can think of loads that have shut down and no new ones that have been built.

If you are saying the number of independent fuel retail sites have gone down I would certainly agree with that. Time was almost every corner garage had a pump round the side for customers to fill up and people had monthly fuel accounts- days long gone. However despite the increased fuel efficiency of modern cars the overall UK car population must have increased markedly over the last ten years meaning its the big chains/supermarkets that are selling more fuel albeit from fewer outlets?
Number of vehicles in UK hits new high. | RAC Foundation Blog
 
Number of UK fuel forecourts dropped from 21,000 to 8,500 in 20 years:

Death of the petrol station: Forecourts more than half on 1990s boom to hit record low | This is Money

The traditional service station brands such as Murco and Total are reviewing their position in the UK market thanks to increasingly narrow margins available through fuel retailing operations.

The other quote I saw was from the BBC - that there are less places to buy petrol in the UK now than there were in 1912! :eek:
 
Apart from really remote areas, I can't recall the last time I've been in a pure petrol station rather than some rancid pasty and costalot coffee dispensing station, let alone the full supermarket with queue ones.

I did quite a lot of work on petrol and oil distribution margins some time ago, it's a pretty awful business.
 
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