UK Fuel Prices

[Lussac]

What is it with UK fuel prices? I have visited frequently in the last two months and have seen a substantial rise in prices (from 121.9p to 126.9p in five days at one particular station). On my first visit in mid-November the local Shell garage had diesel at 120.9 per litre and my local station in France at 119.9¢ per litre. My last visit, when I left on Xmas Eve , the local Shell was selling at 126.9p and today at my local garage in France the diesel price is 119.8¢ a litre which is LESS than it was in mid-November. Has there been a tax hike on fuel in the UK in December?

[shao_khan]

Apparently down to fuel shortages brough about by the bad weather. There will be a large hike in January when VAT rises, I think the VAT will cause a rise of about 3p and this will trigger a rise of about 1p in fuel duty so we could see anything upto 5p perr l rise during january.

[cruiser647]

Apparently down to fuel shortages brough about by the bad weather.

The price of oil has also risen due to the bad weather and OPEC NOT increasing production. However, that does not seem to have affected your French prices for some reason.

[DanG]

I filled up my car today at £1.33 a litre, which equates to a little over £80. (In the Range Rover that would have been £130+)

I have watched it slowly creeping up over the past few months.

I earn decent money these days, but that still hurts, and I cannot see this getting any better - and more importantly 'Real' inflation continuing to hurt the man in the street for a long time.

Still, there is no conjestion charge this week.

Woo

Hoo.

[shao_khan]

Yeah but havent we gone back to around $95 per barrel? When when it hit $140 I'm sure the pump prices are only the same as they are now???

[DHA]

I'm quite glad that the 135 runs on regular unleaded, the mini costs more to fill as it runs on super. Thankfully the diesel engined car that will replace it (whenever it arrives) will alleviate that issue.

[DanG]

The 135 is turbo charged isnt it? I am surprised they dont recomend the higher octane fuels.

FWIW I used to get more miles per gallon using 'super unleaded' in the old petrol Audi 2.0T

[DHA]

Yeah its a turbo, I was surprised too when the dealer said stick 95 in it. But sure enough the petrol cap and manual say 95 ron. I might get more performance out of it with super but the extra cost probably wouldn't justify this. I doubt I would get much more mpg anyway.

[shao_khan]

Makes a decent difference on our TT when I'm using it for work (commute of 75 miles on dual carriage way @60mph) but around town doesnt do enough mpg to justify the cost

I miss our Range Rover but I'm sure glad I'm not having to fill it up at the moment!

[cruiser647]

The 135 is turbo charged isnt it? I am surprised they dont recomend the higher octane fuels.

FWIW I used to get more miles per gallon using 'super unleaded' in the old petrol Audi 2.0T

The A6 2.7 Twin turbo runs on normal unleaded. I too was very surprised seeing that in the manual.

[Dave]

I'm paying £1.07 a litre for diesel at the moment!

Courtesy of these people: Countrywide - Fuel Cards

[steelwind101]

$2.96 US Gallon right now When i arrived it was about 12 cents cheaper. My local garages are about 2p more expensive then everywhere else in the UK.

[Booster]

Drove past local BP station earlier on the way to sainsburys. BP was 130.9 for diesel!!! That's before the vat increase. Sainsburys was 125.9 about 400 yards up the road.

Surely these prices are going to cripple many people and businesses. Ok businesses can get the vat back but even so, it's now taking the Michael some what.

[Tipex]

I'm paying £1.07 a litre for diesel at the moment!

Courtesy of these people: Countrywide - Fuel Cards

Any more info on those cards? which of the 3 is it you have, and are there any requirements you need to have one? I use over £100 of diesel a week normally, so at £1.07/L I could be making some substantial savings.

Do you know which garages accept the cards in general? we have a couple of small independent garages locally, Esso, BP, Somerfield, Tesco, ASDA and Sainsburys, and a Total (I think) but no Morrisons anywhere near, and about a 15 mile drive to a Texaco!

Surely these prices are going to cripple many people and businesses. Ok businesses can get the vat back but even so, it's now taking the Michael some what.

Your not kidding, I'm effectively taking a pay cut every time the price goes up, as we can't raise our fares to compensate, so it comes directly out of my pocket.

[Cockney Boy]

An increase in Fuel will only increase the Fuel theft, HGV's, cars, Vans etc will gett here tanks emptied. All because the Government want more of our money to pay off the dept oh and also to give the EU more money to bail out the rest of Europe.

I do hope we see another Fuel strike from the Haulage companies

[Scotty]

Your not kidding, I'm effectively taking a pay cut every time the price goes up, as we can't raise our fares to compensate, so it comes directly out of my pocket.

But you never tell us about your pay rise every time the fares go up.

I do understand what you're saying though.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Scotty

[NewNiceMrMe]

I do hope we see another Fuel strike from the Haulage companies

Why? It'll do no good whatever and indeed cause more damage. The last strike caused mayhem and didn't help their argument - but it cost companies millions in lost productivity, lost orders and so on. When you look at the detail behind any fuel strikes - they nearly always do a hell of a lot of damage to companies instead of helping them.

[Dave]

Tipex, I use the first one.. In fact we have 4 cards, but they are superb.

Every week you are sent an email telling you how much you will pay per litre ( this week it's £1.07). It comes with a large booklet telling you which petrol stations you can use (countrywide!). You fill up normally, hand over the card ad you would normally and it's seems you are paying the forecourt price, but when your weely statement arrives that £100 bill is in fact £70.00

We reckon we will save between £4 to £5 THOUSAND a year!!

[Maxyboy]

Tipex, I use the first one.. In fact we have 4 cards, but they are superb.

Every week you are sent an email telling you how much you will pay per litre ( this week it's £1.07). It comes with a large booklet telling you which petrol stations you can use (countrywide!). You fill up normally, hand over the card ad you would normally and it's seems you are paying the forecourt price, but when your weely statement arrives that £100 bill is in fact £70.00

We reckon we will save between £4 to £5 THOUSAND a year!!

And any normal punter can use this? It doesn't have to be a business?

[Cockney Boy]

It worked for the Pole Tax, so why not for Fuel. If we dont take action then the cost will keep going up. The Government know that the majority of the public dont have a back bone and will shrug there shoulders and keep quiet.

Why? It'll do no good whatever and indeed cause more damage. The last strike caused mayhem and didn't help their argument - but it cost companies millions in lost productivity, lost orders and so on. When you look at the detail behind any fuel strikes - they nearly always do a hell of a lot of damage to companies instead of helping them.

[Dave]

And any normal punter can use this? It doesn't have to be a business?

Business only I believe! It's also to do with the vat claim.

Basically they bulk buy fuel ( on a national scale), feed it into the network and pass on the savings

[CarMad]

Higher fuel charges make people think though don't they.

Do I really need to use the car to pop out to the shops, should I get that 4ltr engine or is a 3ltr or a 2.5 enough etc. Oil reserves aren't go up are they or have I missed something?

As for hauliers, did anyone watch the Eddie Stobart series, how many times did journeys have to be abandoned because a retailer didn't want to accept the load because it was outside of the delivery slot. The goods then had to be taken back to a depot and then re-delivered several times, its this sort of behaviour that needs to stop if fuel prices are to go up.

I can see for many that a car might be essential but for many public transport can be as good or a better option, as can be getting more freight off the roads in the first place. The government past and present are using the cost of fuel to drive a change in behaviour, without it we will all carry on without a care in the world and with our head in the sand.

Or maybe if things really do get hard on oil prices in decades to come maybe we will be a little more prepared than some countries and more competitive in out behaviours as a result.

[Tipex]

But you never tell us about your pay rise every time the fares go up.

I do understand what you're saying though.

Off the top of my head, our last fare increase was at least 5 years ago, so when was your last wage rise??

To be fair, it's not that simple though, we are the cheapest cab firm in the town, and year on year, despite the current (and worsening despite what the media says) financial climate, our job numbers increase, we only take on extra drivers when job numbers dictate that it wouldn't take work away from the existing drivers, so the more work we have, the more drivers earn, its where the old adage 'time is money' comes from.

2 years ago, it cost approximately £65 to fill the tank on my galaxy, now it costs £85, so I'm effectively £20 worse off every time I fill the tank ( and that's at £1.25/l before the vat rise and £1.30/l), and I have to fill the tank almost twice a week, there is a finite number of 'jobs' it is possible to do in an hour, and so assuming it's always busy and we are working at maximum efficiency (which obviously we aren't most of the time), I'm still taking a pretty big wage cut every time the fuel goes up.

Im not sure how much sense that makes, as I've had a few pints of kronenburg, but I know what trying to say even if no else does!

[Scotty]

Off the top of my head, our last fare increase was at least 5 years ago, so when was your last wage rise??

Three years ago.

Are your prices pre-set (legislated?) or can you decide on the fare levels?

I'm sure my local cabs have gone up in the last 5 years.

[Riz]

I remember the days when I used to fill up with Shell Optimax and Millers Octane booster for my Audi S3, need that added extra for the Revo SPS3 :D

It was something like 85p per litre.... back in 2001.

Ahhh them were the days......

Riz :D