Fuel Prices

[myglaren]

Diesel £2/L from BP in Gateshead.

[Paul-R]

I just don't understand why diesel is some 16p - 17p a litre dearer than petrol. When the government lowered duty on fuel did they only do it for petrol? What is going on?

[mickthemaverick]

It would seem that the reduction was on all fuels Paul:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... es-2022-23

[Paul-R]

And they're exactly the same amount. Which doesn't really explain why it's so expensive.

Thanks Mick.

[RichardW]

Supply and demand... a fair bit of diesel comes from Russia, hence 'shortages' driving a higher price.

Local garage to me has crept up to 177.7 - it's unattended, but the pumps 'only' do £100 max. Got to the money limit last night before it clicked off on the 3008 (just over 56 litres) - my first £100 fill up.

[mickthemaverick]

A potential answer to the question on the OSV website:

"There are more drivers of unleaded vehicles than there are drivers of diesel vehicles. Appealing to the majority is key business mathematics. Not only that, more diesel is sold in the UK than petrol.

This is due to the volume of commercial vehicles in the UK using diesel power. Business motorists are less likely to shop around for better forecourt prices and therefore retailers increase the price to make a bigger profit. Simon Williams, of RAC, said in their report: “The difference between the two is quite often 5p a litre. We as a nation of motorists are far more focused on petrol prices and therefore there is a perceived benefit from a retailer’s point of view in keeping petrol prices lower for the country’s 20m petrol car owners than it is for the 10.7m diesel car drivers.”

As diesel is the primary fuel used by commercial vehicles in the UK the additional cost is a heavy burden upon businesses and small business owners. In a recovering economy, penalising the businesses who provide services and employment to aid in economic recovery seems counterintuitive but it all boils down to profits.

Put simply, diesel is more expensive than petrol because fuel retailers have found a solution to making big additional profits without the risk of losing customers."

[GiveMeABreak]

And they're exactly the same amount. Which doesn't really explain why it's so expensive.

Thanks Mick.

It's the refining process that is the problem. Regardless of where the diesel comes from, most of it is still actually refined in Russia! A lot of it is then stored in off-shore tanks so that they can technically say it's not from Russia. But as the UK gradually shut down a lot of its refineries, this is one of the reasons why it's costing more.

[myglaren]

Just filled up with E10, no E5 at the pump I went to.
£1.619/L

[Peter.N.]

We are off to Scotland tomorrow, wife took the car into Axminster today - no diesel. That bodes well. Its about 3/4 full which should get up there - then what, AA?

Peter.

We got to Carlisle Tesco, there was a long queue at the pumps spilling out on to the road so we couldn't,t stop there, tried again at Perth, drove straight in and filled up having averaged 76.6 mpg for that part of the journey, picture to follow when we get home. Sunny and warm here at the moment.

So remember if you can,t get diesel, there is plenty in Perth


Peter

[GiveMeABreak]

Just back from the shopping trip and Tesco had no diesel at all, so went to my Gulf Garage and half of their pumps had no diesel or petrol.... We managed to fill up from half a tank on the one that has some diesel. So things not getting any better to be honest.

[10mbc]

Do you think this is an availability or a distribution issue?

[GiveMeABreak]

It's a refining issue in my opinion - Russia still refines most of the diesel!

[mickthemaverick]

I filled up this morning and for the first time in my memory the auto cutout happened at this point:

Own work

On an exact pound is what I am talking about! Would have been nicer had it been £71.00 though!!

[Peter.N.]

See three posts back. Can't get the hang of these touch screen thingies.

Peter


Sorry five

Peter

[quintet]

Do you think this is an availability or a distribution issue?

I believe the east coast of America has gotten to it's lowest levels of diesel in recent history, around the beginning of May they had 10 million barrels worth which is estimated to last until.....june I would guess the vast majority of Americans have a petrol powered vehicle so won't be immediately effected car wise but obviously will be for agriculture/transportation (road & rail) & then filter down to the car driving general public.


My last diesel purchase was (in manchester) at £1.79 for regular shell fuel, 2 days later the same station had it at £1.83, i generally only use them or tesco but the last time i passed a BP station it was at £1.79 & they are usually the most expensive imo, Sometimes i'll have a look at the "Petrolprices" app but it's not the most reliable as i think it requires the prices to be inputted by induvial app users.