Petrol Prices

[pelmetman]

Just had this email come through, sounds like a good idea to me :salute:PETROL PRICES


The price of oil is as low as it has been for a while, the oil companies have simply jacked their prices up and the government will not do anything as they rake in extra VAT for every increase.

We are hitting 114.9 a litre in some areas now, soon we will be faced with paying 1.50 a ltr. Philip Hollsworth offered this good idea which makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the 'don't buy petrol on a certain day campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT,whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.

Please read it and join in!

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre is CHEAP, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the market place not sellers. With the price of petrol going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their Petrol! And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year DON'T purchase ANY petrol from the two biggest oil companies (which now are one), ESSO and BP.

If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact we need to reach literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers. It's really simple to do!!

Now, don't wimp out at this point... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to a lot of people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it... ..

THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all You have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all.(and not buy at ESSO/BP) How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt,all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8days!!! Acting together we can make a difference . If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.

PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE 90p a LITRE RANGE

It's easy to make this happen. Just join this group and get all your FB friends to join or forward as an email to everyone in your address book, and buy your petrol at Shell, Texaco, Asda,T***o, Sainsburys, Morrisons Jet etc. i.e.. boycott BP and Esso.

Anything that screws the people who have screwed us for years gets my vote

[seasidegirl]

I'm up for a protest but sorry don't like this one.

The number of filling stations across the country, where people are travelling, seems to have reduced dramatically to me.

My guess is because the supermarkets, especially those with reward points, have taken the business. I don't think the small garages make much out of their petrol, in comparison to what they make on a bar of chocolate or sandwich, flowers etc.

This protest puts more money in the tills of the supermarkets who are ruining all trade in the country.

I'd vote for all out protest/gridlock like last time myself.

[Cassiepod]

117.9p by me this morning, I was travelling into town anyway and managed to get it for 114.9.... I'm all for the protest, but don't have esso or BP anywahere near me and anyway I agree you're probably better boycotting the supermarkets, there are only a ceratin number of refinneries and they all get their products from the same blace but every company as slightly different additives in it.

[pelmetman]

Good point, use the local garage which is rarely BP or Esso according to their signs? but I think the point of the protest is to make a seismic shift from one supplier to another that will give all the other suppliers a kick up the backside

[contadino]

Petrol is expensive in the UK because your pound is worth peanuts against the dollar, in which oil is traded. Sort out your currency, and you'll be able to drive around screwing up the climate with impunity.

Apologies if I sound a bit terse, but this is the lamest, most pathetic argument to be having on a supposedly 'green' forum.

[pelmetman]

I did wonder when I posted the email I received if it would annoy the committed enviromentalists, but there are people who tread a path trying to do the best we can without ruining the planet, but we still need to eat (ie:- earn a living) so I can not see an issue with objecting to the mega companies shafting us?
Maybe I will be convinced otherwise

[dave45]

Expect petrol and diesel prices to rise a lot more over the next decade - or don't you believe in peak oil?

reduce your consumption or brew your own

btw whatever happened to Clarkson's "grow your own petrol" stunt?

[contadino]

so I can not see an issue with objecting to the mega companies shafting us?

It has nothing to do with being shafted by big business. Your economy is in a worse state than most other countries, so everything from abroad is going to be more expensive. Britain has virtually no oil left, and that which it has is almost useless for making petrol. Ergo, petrol has to be bought in from abroad.

The oilfields don't care whether you need to make a living (like that's some excuse for demanding cheap petrol.) When they're empty, they empty. Get used to it.

[pelmetman]

Oop's have I lit the blue touch paper here
Please explain peak oil?

[contadino]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil

[marshlander]

There's more on peak oil and energy decent on the Transition Towns website http://www.transitiontowns.org/


I don't think this boycot is a good idea either I'm afraid. Most of the pump price is tax and only a few pence goes to the petrol station. According to http://www.whatgas.com/fuel-duty.aspx As of September 2009 the price of fuel, the fuel duty and the VAT level are shown in the table below:

Type of Fuel Total Cost at Pump Fuel Duty VAT % of Fuel Cost that is Tax
Unleaded 105.64p 56.19p 13.8p 66%
Diesel 106.08p 56.19p 13.8p 66%
LPG 54.54p 27.7p 7.1p 63%

LPG used to enjoy a much lower fuel duty a few years ago when it was classed in the same category as Biodiesel and Bioethanol fuels, which have a fuel duty rate of a 'mere' 36.19p.

Effect of Fuel Duty on Petrol Prices
For the avoidance of any doubt, if there were no fuel duty on unleaded or diesel then the price at our pumps would be around 41p, and if there were no VAT to pay this would be reduced to just over 35p/litre.

with the recent and forthcoming rises in fuel duty the percentage that is tax will be even more.

[pelmetman]

so I can not see an issue with objecting to the mega companies shafting us?

It has nothing to do with being shafted by big business. Your economy is in a worse state than most other countries, so everything from abroad is going to be more expensive. Britain has virtually no oil left, and that which it has is almost useless for making petrol. Ergo, petrol has to be bought in from abroad.

The oilfields don't care whether you need to make a living (like that's some excuse for demanding cheap petrol.) When they're empty, they empty. Get used to it.

The economy is something I have put up with since being self employed for over twenty five years, and it seems to me the oil companies use any excuse to hike the price, when it runs out do you really think the extra revenue has been spent on finding or funding a replacement
I hope you can convince me otherwise

PS I have just got the link to Peak Oil and had a quick look, I think I will need to summon all my grade 3 history CSE and collectors badge in the scouts to understand it
I'm glad I only work with my hands and not my brain

[contadino]

The economy is something I have put up with since being self employed for over twenty five years, and it seems to me the oil companies use any excuse to hike the price, when it runs out do you really think the extra revenue has been spent on finding or funding a replacement
I hope you can convince me otherwise

Whether I convince you or not won't make a jot of difference to the economics of oil-based fuels. The fact of the matter is that oil is running out, and the easy to extract stuff is pretty much gone already. Oil is going to get more expensive as supply reduces. It's up to you to get yourself ready for it.

[sortanormalish]

In reference to profits being used to find replacement fuels, all the replacements found for gasoline in automobiles are still dependent on fossil fuels. Electricity comes primarily from coal, natural gas, even gasoline and diesel (generators), excluding nuclear (won't even go there the bag is so mixed). Don't forget the laws of energy conservation, it takes more fuel to make electricity then power a car than to just drive on gasoline. So how is that a fix? Hydrogen is refined using electricity.

Now...what about automobile manufacturers (with major vested interests in gasoline refineries) developing higher fuel mileage automoblies that are marketed at prices competitive with standard fuel mileage?

[seasidegirl]

I got all excited at the idea of a protest, although not this one, and so much so I momentarily forgot about Peak Oil which I only learned about recently. I think I followed some links from here actually, there was a link to a brilliant article 'What happens when the food runs out' which I can no longer see.

In an odd way though, another fuel protest might be beneficial because it just might remind us here in Britain how totally dependant we are on oil.

I was working in a large well known supermarket recently in the heavy snow in the early hours of the morning. The management were very worried that their daily delivery from another county wasn't going to arrive. It was very late but did get there although many shelves were empty. Sprinkle on a bit of panic buying and whatever the cause, weather, fuel shortages or strike, or like everyone says ... when the oil runs out people will be unable to buy food.

Another interesting thing about that snowy morning was that all the internet shopping deliveries were cancelled because it wasn't safe for the vans to go out, not being designed for heavy snow they kept getting stuck, especially in outlying areas. Customers were going mad that food wasn't delivered direct to their fridge. Anyway I got sent home about 6 am as we had no work to do and guess which was the only vehicle that passed me on my wintry walk? The milkman.

Last thing ... Hugh FW showed his waste oil being made into fuel by some students last night on tv. It didn't look that hard to me, although there must be a limit to the waste cooking oil available.