Do the oil companies think that motorists are mugs

[vic mcclymont]

A few years ago I was listening to programme where an oil executive explained why diesel fuel oil is so expensive in comparison to petrol. The reason given was that there was a shortage of diesel, and this lead to higher costs.
Today on TV an executive was also stating that there was a shortage of diesel in this country and we had to import thus leading to higher costs.
Now my limited knowledge of the oil industry shows that heavy crude is introduced to the cracking tower and diesel is one of the first products produced before other distillates are produced from the cracking tower.
If there is a shortage of diesel, why isn't there a shortage of other distillates, or is just a case of milking the motorist.
A investigation by the AA shows that the wholesale costs of petrol and diesel are very similar but diesel is between 4 and 6p a litre more expensive.
So is the diesel motorist being ripped off?

[Captain Kong]

Hi Vic, yes the Diesel Motorist is being ripped off but not by the oil companies.
Diesel was always cheaper than Petrol.
A very few years ago the Last Government with collusion of the enviromentalists increased the price of Diesel with more Tax because they said Diesel is more polluting than petrol. and a diiesel car can do more MPG than a petrol car.
So the Tax went up. that is why Diesel is now more expensive per Litre than Petrol.
Another rip off.
A barrel of North Sea crude oil will yield 3% LPG, 37% petrol, 25% diesel, 20% kerosene (jet fuel/heating oil) and 12% fuel oil (heavy residue for power generation).
Cheers
Brian.

[Tony Wilding]

At one time the Goverment in Power was advising us to buy Diesel Cars, Diesel Fuel was allways cheaper than Petrol, they soon upped the tax when petrol taxes dropped because more people bought diesel cars. another two faced goverment promise.like all there promises.

[vic mcclymont]

Yes the Government are taxing diesel fuel more, also the oil companies are charging more, blaming a mythical shortage of the stuff.
My argument is if diesel is short so must all the other distillates.

[Captain Kong]

As you say, if Diesel is short then Petrol must also be short, cos Petrol is 37% of a barrel and diesel is only 25%
so at that rate Aviation spirit at 20% must also be short. So who is kidding who????

[Ron B Manderson]

a short answer is yip

All we have to do is boycott all petrol companies except One.
That would bring the price down.
But you can never get the public to do that.
I had a lass work with me in BT and I told her to go to the BP station as it was 2p a ltr cheaper.
She came back and told me it wasn't any cheaper as she still had to put a tenners worth in .
How can you fight that mental person.
Wholesale price is the same for both.
Ron the batcave

[John Pruden]

between road tax insurance and the tax on fuel we should have the best roads in the world? how many of our young are out of work because they literally cant afford to get to work?my son has just been quoted over £4000.00 a year insurance for a car that is not even worth that and has had a clean licence for a few years and never a claim for or against him its stupid????jp

[happy daze john in oz]

Same thing here in Oz. For years diesel was always up to 15 cents a litre cheaper. Then we got the sulphur free diesel so many oveseas cars usuinf diesel began to arrive here. They would not export them before as they claimed the sulphur would damage the motor. Then the gov changed the tax regime, all our fuesl have a fixed tax of 37 cents per litre no matter the bowser price. Once you get away from the major cities here diesel is all they use, but the big farmers, miners etc get a gov subsidy on the cost of their diesel. So the poor motorist pays 10 to 15 cents more for diesel than petrol, but I have never heard of a shortahe of diesel before. Speaking with my brother in law last night and he tells me the UK now has the third highest pricede fuel in the world, but i guess you knew that already. Currently here in melbourne diesel about $145.9 petrol about $153.9 but petrol will drop at the rate of about 2 cents per day until it reaches about $130.9 then the cycle will begin again. But if you shop smart you can get a further 4 to 15 cents per litre off. Our biggest fuel companies here Caltex is owned by Woolworths (Safeways that was) and Shell by Coles Myer, part of the Westfarmers group that ownes the suermarkets, chain stores and hardware stores. We have afew independents but they are slowly being squeezed out.

[John Pruden]

john we are all like sheep if we called for a national no car or van day once a week and used public transport if no bus showed up sue the bus company for the days pay same with the trains the powers that be are always saying use public transport the thing is we cannot rely on it? be like America sue for anything and every thing you can play the law at its own game what is the office or fair trading doing about the prices {nothing} it just another toothless tiger and don't we have loads of them here?jp