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Fuel again


michele

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UK motorists travelling in Europe will find the cheapest fuel in Spain and Switzerland, according to a survey.

 

Switzerland was the only one of 12 European destinations where unleaded fuel cost less than £1 a litre, Post Office Travel Services has claimed.

 

Driving in Spain was the best value for diesel and hire car drivers, it said.

 

The UK was sixth on the value for money list, but it showed the largest underlying price increase for the year to June for unleaded petrol.

 

Rising prices

 

The Motoring on the Continent Report said that the cost of unleaded petrol rose substantially in all 12 countries surveyed in the last 12 months.

 

Costs on the continent (per litre)

Switzerland - unleaded 92p, diesel £1.02

Spain - unleaded £1, diesel 94p

Austria - unleaded £1.02, diesel £1.01

Sweden - unleaded £1.11, diesel £1.27

Italy - unleaded £1.15, diesel £1.15

UK - unleaded £1.16, diesel £1.29

Germany - unleaded £1.19, diesel £1.12

France - unleaded £1.24, diesel £1.22

Denmark - unleaded £1.28, diesel £1.32

Netherlands - unleaded £1.29, diesel £1.15

Belgium - unleaded £1.30, diesel £1.18

Norway - unleaded £1.40, diesel £1.45

Source: Post Office Travel Services

 

UK holidaymakers travelling in Switzerland would pay 92 pence a litre for unleaded in Switzerland, £1 in Spain, and £1.02 in Austria.

 

At the other end of the scale, prices of unleaded in Norway were £1.40 a litre, £1.30 in Belgium and £1.29 in the Netherlands.

 

But the report pointed to rising costs for drivers in the UK.

 

"Sterling has fallen in value by 14% against the euro in the past year and by even more in the other motoring holiday destinations," said the Post Office's head of travel Helen Warburton.

 

"When we extracted this percentage from the price rises, we found that the UK had suffered the highest underlying price hike - 20% at the pumps."

 

For diesel vehicle drivers Spain (94p a litre), Austria (£1.01) and Switzerland (£1.02) were again the cheapest, with Norway (£1.45), Denmark (£1.32) and the UK (£1.29) the most expensive.

 

The report also looked at the cost of holiday car hire, extending the survey to 20 countries.

 

Three-day rental rates were cheapest in Florida in the US, followed by Spain and Portugal and most expensive in Greece and Norway.

 

 

 

 

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Drivers warned against fuel panic

 

About 600 tanker drivers are expected to strike

Downing Street has urged motorists not to panic-buy petrol and diesel ahead of a planned strike by tanker drivers delivering fuel for Shell on Friday.

 

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said contingency plans were in place to minimise disruption.

 

Even so, the government said that some petrol stations could run out of fuel.

 

Hundreds of members of the Unite Union are due to walk out from 0600 BST on Friday until 0600 the following Tuesday in a dispute over pay.

 

The drivers work for Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport, haulage firms employed by Shell to deliver fuel to its forecourts across the UK.

 

'Responsible actions'

 

The prime minister's spokesperson said: "We believe that this strike is unnecessary and we would want to ensure that nothing was done that inconvenienced the public.

 

I hope that by involving Acas we can avoid industrial action

 

Bernie Holloway, Hoyer UK

 

"But the most responsible thing the public can do is to continue to buy as normal."

 

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) estimated that Shell accounted for about one in 10 filling stations in the UK and that it was "inevitable" some of them would run out of fuel.

 

Shell is understood to have a dedicated team working to minimise any disruption by maximising stocks of fuel and prioritising deliveries.

 

A series of measures was enacted by the government last Friday to allow companies to work together in order to get fuel to where its needed in the event of a strike, while remaining within the scope of competition law, BERR said.

 

However, the Petrol Retailers Association, suggests that the impact of the four-day strike may not be as great as some fear.

 

"One forecourt in ten might not have sufficient fuel for the period of the strike," the association's Ray Holloway told the BBC.

 

"But on the plus side, any forecourt would normally hold four days' stock, so the effect could be an awful lot less than some people may project," he said.

 

Offer rejected

 

Only Shell sets the terms of this contract and only it can solve this dispute

 

Len McCluskey, Unite assistant general secretary

 

In an attempt to resolve the dispute, representatives from the Unite union are due to meet the two transport firms on Wednesday.

 

The union claims that drivers' average pay before overtime of £32,000 has not increased since 1992. It suggests a wage of £36,000 a year would be fairer.

 

Drivers have rejected an improved offer of a 6.8% pay rise, which the companies claim would have increased drivers' average salaries, including overtime, from £36,500 to around £39,000 a year.

 

Hoyer UK estimates that that if drivers had accepted that latest offer, their average pay would have increased by a third over the past five years.

 

Intervention

 

The talks due to begin on Wednesday will involve the arbitration and conciliation service, Acas, for the first time.

 

"I hope that by involving Acas we can avoid industrial action," said Bernie Holloway from Hoyer UK.

 

The Unite union renewed its insistence that Shell should intervene to resolve the dispute.

 

"Only Shell sets the terms of this contract and only it can solve this dispute," said Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general secretary.

 

"This is one of the most profitable companies on earth and it now needs to provide the financial flexibility to avert this dispute," he said.

 

In a statement, Shell said it "urged both parties to find a way through their differences".

 

Bet it means trouble ahead

 

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What's interesting though, is if you take all the increases since January 2005, all across Europe, the percentage increases in UK diesel prices have actually been well below the European average.

 

In other words, over the past 3 years the prices in other European countries have been increasing faster than the UK, and thus catching up with or actually overtaking those in the UK.

 

I'll try to upload the graph (from BBC website) that illustrates this:

_44739334_fuel_price466x269.gif.e749ab04e798f5fbb6a07dc4f7ce99c6.gif

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Guest JudgeMental
K&D - 2008-06-11 8:33 PM

 

nearly collapsed after filling my land cruiser up just under £100

 

Get used to it... they are saying nothing is going to stop this rising 1.50 -2.00 by Christmas *-)

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I agree Judge......the days of cheap carbon-based fuel have come, we've all enjoyed them in the rich West; and now they've gone as the supplies that we've been squandering for the past 100 years dwindle, and the rest of the world demands a bigger share of what little is now left.

 

The only thing we can do to cope is to SUBSTANTIALLY alter our behaviours as individuals, to use A LOT less of it than we've been blithely doing in the past.

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Interesting graph BGD. The BBC Article from which it is taken also makes interesting reading as to the effects of increases here compared to elsewhere.

 

I did a bit of checking myself last night as to who is actually making money out of the increases. I used the AA fuel price reports to compare average UK diesel prices in May 2008 with October 2007 (the last time that fuel duty was raised). Using 1 decimal place to keep things simple:

 

May 2008 - Pump price 124.2p. Made up of Fuel Duty of 50.4p, VAT of 18.5p (total tax 68.9p (55.43%)) and "cost" price of 55.3p.

October 2007 - Pump price 99.8p. Made up of Fuel Duty of 50.4p, VAT of 14.9p (total tax 65.3p (65.34%)) and "cost" price of 34.5p.

 

So, the rise in the pump price of 24.4p since October 2007 has been 3.6p to the Treasury and 20.8p to the producer/retailer.

 

I haven't done the exercise for unleaded petrol but the reports are HERE if anyone fancies doing it.

 

Graham

 

 

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Graham - useful stats, but I think they only tell a part of the story, as they ignore:

 

1. The import duty the Government charges on crude oil when it's first brought into the country (or landed in the country in the case of North Sea oil/gas).

 

2. Also the 32% Corporation tax that the Government charges on any profits made by UK based oil Companies (eg BP, and the UK operataing companies within Shell corporate, Exxon corporate, etc etc).

 

3. Also the (now) 11% National Insurance Tax that the Government forces any employers (including oil companies) to pay on the wages/salaries of all their UK employees.

 

4. Also the massive business rates charged by local Government on each and every business premises (refining depots, bulk storage depots, transport yards, offices, retail sites etc) owned or operated by all oil companies.

 

To get a full picture you'd need to add in all of the direct AND indirect Government taxes on UK oil importing/refining/transport and sale.

Clearly when you add in all the above, the total tax-take of HMG on the import and sale of fuel is actually WAY above the headline amount, and (given the massive increases in business premises rates, and Employers National Insurance) will I'm sure have increased substantially over the period you mention.

 

 

 

 

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Well that's one way of looking at it.

 

BGD - 2008-06-12 3:57 PM

1. The import duty the Government charges on crude oil when it's first brought into the country (or landed in the country in the case of North Sea oil/gas).

I admit my ignorance of import duties and any differences between crude oil and other commodities.

 

BGD - 2008-06-12 3:57 PM

2. Also the 32% Corporation tax that the Government charges on any profits made by UK based oil Companies (eg BP, and the UK operataing companies within Shell corporate, Exxon corporate, etc etc).

Isn't Corporation Tax levied on all large businesses? Why should there be an exception for oil companies?

 

BGD - 2008-06-12 3:57 PM

3. Also the (now) 11% National Insurance Tax that the Government forces any employers (including oil companies) to pay on the wages/salaries of all their UK employees.

See above - it's all companies which pay not just oil companies.

 

BGD - 2008-06-12 3:57 PM

4. Also the massive business rates charged by local Government on each and every business premises (refining depots, bulk storage depots, transport yards, offices, retail sites etc) owned or operated by all oil companies.

Business Rates are charged by central government, not local government. They have been since the 1980s (same time as the Community Charge (Poll Tax)) was brought in. The idea of the government of the day was to have standard costs throughout the country for similar sized units.

 

BGD - 2008-06-12 3:57 PM

To get a full picture you'd need to add in all of the direct AND indirect Government taxes on UK oil importing/refining/transport and sale.

Clearly when you add in all the above, the total tax-take of HMG on the import and sale of fuel is actually WAY above the headline amount, and (given the massive increases in business premises rates, and Employers National Insurance) will I'm sure have increased substantially over the period you mention.

Fine. But - as noted above - much of this applies to all industries, not just oil. The figures I used were ones published by the AA. The full reports also have comparisons with Europe - and don't take indirect taxes in those countries into account either.

 

Graham

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If petrol is not expensive enough I have just checked my internet statement and found I have been charged twice for one transaction for fuel at Asda's in Boston that I purchased last Sunday when i just rang them they appologised and explained it was because of a software error at around 6 of their outlets and are trying to sort it as soon as possible hopefully by the beginning of next week.

Just heard on the news talks have broken down with the tanker drivers so it looks like the strike is on after all , more panic buying no doubt..http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/images/emoticons/icon_lol.gif

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kelly58 - 2008-06-12 7:18 PM

Just heard on the news talks have broken down with the tanker drivers so it looks like the strike is on after all , more panic buying no doubt..http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/images/emoticons/icon_lol.gif

I don't understand this so called "Panic" buying scenario.

Fact:- Shell drivers will be on strike, BUTTTT !!! they only account for 1 in 10 deliveries to forecourts in the UK. The rest of the other fuel companies are supplied by other tanker delivery companies.

The drivers will be back on tuesday A.M.

What got me very annoyed to-day was a couple were filling up at a petrol station. Husband goes in and states that he will be paying for the amount filled on 2 pumps. Wife comes in and says " I can only get £10 worth of fuel" into her vehicle.

The very same happens at Christmas - shops are only closed on christmas day & boxing day, BUTTTTT yet people are buying as if they are feeding the 5,000!!!! Then these same people wind up wasting food as they have to throw it out, due to non usage.

Am I missing something here!!??

Thai

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Crazy isn't it Thai - what I've called for years the "want it all, want it now" society.

 

Made up, in part, of people who translate "right to buy" into "right to own whether I can afford it or not" - the sorts of people who take out 110% mortgages of 4 or 5 times their annual salary and then whinge when they fall into negative equity/repayment difficulties and expect society in general to bail them out.

 

Also partly populated by people who trawl around for the "best" schools for their children at the expense of others who live closer to them, instead of putting effort into building up their local schools as part of contributing to their local community.

 

It will, no doubt, come right in the end, the human race being resilient, but it can be depressing seeing so much energy channeled towards selfishness rather than helping others.

 

There is a bright side though - we're off in the van for the weekend tomorrow to The Battle of Fangfoss and beer :D

 

Graham

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J9withdogs - 2008-06-12 10:58 PM

 

Has anyone done the calculation for how many minutes the average person has to work to earn enough money to pay for a gallon of fuel compared with, say, 10 years ago?

 

 

I hope no one will try J9 because there is no average person, or realistic average wage.

The answers people would get would be swayed by their own opinions

and predudices.

 

 

:-|

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As a carer to my parents it has been worked out with the hours I worked and the carers benefit I USED to get (but don't get a penny now as it ceases at end of age 59 for some silly reason), I WAS working for less than 25p maximum an hour... :'( So basing it on £5.19 per gallon for diesel NOW, I would have to work - that would mean .... er ... flippin' 'eck I'm rubbish at maths Is it 519 divided by 25 and then divide by 60? :-(
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ROON - 2008-06-13 4:01 PM

 

As a carer to my parents it has been worked out with the hours I worked and the carers benefit I USED to get (but don't get a penny now as it ceases at end of age 59 for some silly reason), I WAS working for less than 25p maximum an hour... :'( So basing it on £5.19 per gallon for diesel NOW, I would have to work - that would mean .... er ... flippin' 'eck I'm rubbish at maths Is it 519 divided by 25 and then divide by 60? :-(

 

 

Using all my fingers and toes I calculate that if you are earning 25p per hour you would have to work 20 hours to earn £5.

;-)

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