OFT Report on Petrol/Diesel Prices

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

Spud
Messages
7,018
Name
Keith
Edit My Images
Yes
So a report from the office of fair trading is due out today on an investigation into fuel prices at the pumps and whether the fluctuations in crude prices are reflected.

I fully expect the report to say they could find no evidence of foul play and all the fuel companies/forecourts are wonderfully honest.

This even though, on one road near here you have a tesco garage selling diesel at 137p and 300 yards down the road, BP selling diesel at 144p. Why people even bother going into the BP place is a mystery.

And why is it as soon as price of crude per barrel goes up "We have to reflect the costs at the pumps" even though in this country most of the price at the pumps is tax/duty so even huge rises in crude should have little impact at the forecourt. And why is it if the crude price does have such a big hit do the prices never seem to drop again when the crude price comes back down?

Still of course we're not being ripped off at all are we? No of course not.

Here's hoping Im wrong and the report might actually say the truth and do us all a bit of a favour.

Angry,
Tunbridge Wells
 
Last edited:
It puzzles me how the governments mind actually works. In one had they are taxing the life out of you at the pumps and in the other they are telling you to get hybrid cars and electric cars because they are cleaner and cheaper so if we all did that they will lose the tax at the pumps anyway. :thinking:
 
DorsetDude said:
This even though, on one road near here you have a tesco garage selling diesel at 137p and 300 yards down the road, BP selling diesel at 144p. Why people even bother going into the BP place is a mystery.
Click to expand...

That can be applied to every product on sale, it's call user choice, why buy from Waitrose when Tesco is cheaper , then again Aldi is even cheaper still and so on.

If you look around Europe our price are high but by no mean the most expensive at all (Italy) just because something cost a lot does not mean we are being ripped off.
 
The utility companies are just the same. Oil and gas goes up, they whack up prices. It comes back down, they don't hurry.
 
srichards said:
The utility companies are just the same. Oil and gas goes up, they whack up prices. It comes back down, they don't hurry.
Click to expand...

You're right there!! I just thought I'd focus my rant on petrol today!
 
acetone said:
just because something cost a lot does not mean we are being ripped off.
Click to expand...
You're not employed by the office of fair trading are you? ;)

acetone said:
That can be applied to every product on sale, it's call user choice, why buy from Waitrose when Tesco is cheaper , then again Aldi is even cheaper still and so on..
Click to expand...

The thing with those choices is though you might expect the quality of the food in Waitrose to be higher, perhaps less fat content, free range or whatever. Tesco to be a bit higher quality food than Aldi. But petrol is bloody petrol wherever you buy it. Its not got lower fat content or added Omega 3 at BP, its exactly the same stuff, why pay more?! :thinking:
 
Last edited:
pepi1967 said:
It puzzles me how the governments mind actually works. In one had they are taxing the life out of you at the pumps and in the other they are telling you to get hybrid cars and electric cars because they are cleaner and cheaper so if we all did that they will lose the tax at the pumps anyway. :thinking:
Click to expand...
That's not how it works.
Pressurising people (by cost) to use more economical cars, smaller cars, cleaner cars etc or to use less electricity/gas by better home insulation etc results in people using less of the fuel, reducing resources more slowly and causing less pollution.

But the prices go up, which means that the suppliers get much the same income for less of the product, and the government get the same tax income.

The big losers are the people who 'choose' to ignore government suggestions - people in rural areas who must have a 4x4 car, or who have long commutes to work, people who can't afford to insulate their homes, can't afford a more efficient heating system etc.
 
Actually the fuel from BP can be of better quality than that of Tesco, so there is that to consider.
 
DorsetDude said:
The thing with those choices is though you might expect the quality of the food in Waitrose to be higher, perhaps less fat content, free range or whatever. Tesco to be a bit higher quality food than Aldi. But petrol is bloody petrol wherever you buy it. Its not got lower fat content or added Omega 3 at BP its exactly the same stuff, why pay more?! :thinking:
Click to expand...

Petrol isn't always the exact same petrol though. The supermarket versions often have different additive mixes. It's like own brand vs branded. Sometimes the quality is the same, sometimes it isn't.
 
srichards said:
Petrol isn't always the exact same petrol though. The supermarket versions often have different additive mixes. It's like own brand vs branded. Sometimes the quality is the same, sometimes it isn't.
Click to expand...

And how do you know this? Because BP adverts on the telly have said so maybe? Or have you taken independent samples to an industrial chemist for analysis? ;) My car runs perfectly fine wherever I get mine from is all I know so I get it from the cheapest lowest priced outlet within reasonable distance.
 
Autoexpress have done the odd test. Difference was noticed with the higher RON fuels more. It's also more noticeable with Japanese turbo cars. The lower RON and poorer quality fuels can cause damage. They did a test with a few and noticed that with the better fuels they had more bhp. I remember reading about it a few years ago.

Considering tesco have horse in their beef burgers I wouldn't trust their fuel in any car of mine!

The base fuel is the same. The additive mix is on the tankers. There is a minimum specification they all have to meet in the same way there is a minimum specification for food products.
 
There is a budget petrol station that I know several people who have had their cars start to cut out after getting petrol from there. Was a passenger in a car once where this happened & as soon as we 'diluted' the cheap petrol with some from another station it was fine.
 
I'm also wondering if there will be any comment in this report regarding that fact that the price difference between petrol and diesel seems to be growing. I remember when petrol was about 80p diesel was about 2p more. Why now does it vary between 6-9p?
 
PPalmer said:
I'm also wondering if there will be any comment in this report regarding that fact that the price difference between petrol and diesel seems to be growing. I remember when petrol was about 80p diesel was about 2p more. Why now does it vary between 6-9p?
Click to expand...

:plus1:

That as well! Don't hold your breath!
 
DorsetDude said:
So a report from the office of fair trading is due out today on an investigation into fuel prices at the pumps and whether the fluctuations in crude prices are reflected.............. etc....

Here's hoping Im wrong and the report might actually say the truth and do us all a bit of a favour.

Angry,
Tunbridge Wells
Click to expand...

"The Office of Fair Trading will publish its initial findings and announce whether it is going to launch a full investigation."

Sounds like it will be a report about whether there is to be another report. These people do a lot of shuffling.
 
DorsetDude said:
And how do you know this? Because BP adverts on the telly have said so maybe? Or have you taken independent samples to an industrial chemist for analysis? ;) My car runs perfectly fine wherever I get mine from is all I know so I get it from the cheapest lowest priced outlet within reasonable distance.
Click to expand...

Because one of my close relative is a former tanker driver, also I run fine on both tesco and Aldi food, doesn't mean it's the same, well the Aldi burgers don't have horse meat anyway.
 
PPalmer said:
I'm also wondering if there will be any comment in this report regarding that fact that the price difference between petrol and diesel seems to be growing. I remember when petrol was about 80p diesel was about 2p more. Why now does it vary between 6-9p?
Click to expand...

Demand!

I remember when fuel was a lot less than that and Diesel was cheaper than petrol, These days, there are many more Diesel cars around than there were back then (it used to be petrol for virtually everything apart from the odd LandRover, a few vans and HGVs) so demand for DERV fuel has increased hugely.

Another factor in fuel prices is speculation. Look out at any anchorage where tankers can lie in safety and see how many there are out there waiting for oil prices to rise...
 
Hasn't diesel also been improved massively to the point where manufacturing process costs more?
 
tiler65 said:
Hasn't diesel also been improved massively to the point where manufacturing process costs more?
Click to expand...

I understood that of diesel and petrol, petrol needed a lot more refining from the raw crude than diesel so in effect diesel ought to be cheaper. If things were fair. Which they're not.
 
Run it on cooking oil. Cheaper still.
 
DorsetDude said:
I understood that of diesel and petrol, petrol needed a lot more refining from the raw crude than diesel so in effect diesel ought to be cheaper. If things were fair. Which they're not.
Click to expand...

I am only going off what Diesel used to be like, I am sure it has improved quality wise. I am not suggesting that this is the only reason for the discrepancy.
 
pepi1967 said:
Run it on cooking oil. Cheaper still.
Click to expand...

Can't or I would! Extra virgin olive oil, naturally! (Where I buy ours [direct from the grower], EVOO is slightly cheaper than UK Diesel.)
 
The guy next door to us runs his vans on chip oil he's got the filter system in his garage. Every time he drives past I get hungry lol.
 
pepi1967 said:
Run it on cooking oil. Cheaper still.
Click to expand...

Last time I checked, cooking oil was more expensive than diesel, unless its used. I wouldn't put used oil in my van.
 
srichards said:
Considering tesco have horse in their beef burgers I wouldn't trust their fuel in any car of mine!
Click to expand...

My brother will not use Teco petrol in his motorcycles as many times in the past he has had to clear water from the tank and carburettor after using it.


Steve.
 
Nod said:
I remember when fuel was a lot less than that and Diesel was cheaper than petrol, These days, there are many more Diesel cars around than there were back then
Click to expand...

It used to be cheap because there was an excess of it from the distilation process. As it was cheap, it became more popular and demand outstripped the supply.

So now it is created artificially by cracking the oil into its composite parts and re-forming it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracking_(chemistry)


Steve.
 
srichards said:
Considering tesco have horse in their beef burgers I wouldn't trust their fuel in any car of mine!
Click to expand...

Ive actually switched from the Shell garage (cheapest near me) to Tesco, same price, but I should be getting more "horse" power from it shouldnt I.
 
i did my own lttle experiment and am getting around 75 miles more out of the shell petrol, than i was getting from morrisons cheapo at about a 1p a litre more, i've also noticed that it i use the supermarket stuff, it seems to be underpowered in some respects (now this may all be in my head) but the more miles to the tank is definately not
 
but can you guarantee that you were driving in exactly the same manner, in the same gear for the same time, with exactly the same use of turbo, at the same speeds etc for each type of fuel ?
 
lizzy23 said:
i did my own lttle experiment and am getting around 75 miles more out of the shell petrol, than i was getting from morrisons cheapo at about a 1p a litre more, i've also noticed that it i use the supermarket stuff, it seems to be underpowered in some respects (now this may all be in my head) but the more miles to the tank is definately not
Click to expand...

Nope, not you, I have found morrisons fuel diabolical, I was even worse losing about 100 miles a tank, never had issues with tesco fuel.
 
Last edited:
big soft moose said:
but can you guarantee that you were driving in exactly the same manner, in the same gear for the same time, with exactly the same use of turbo, at the same speeds etc for each type of fuel ?
Click to expand...

pretty much i commute the M62 daily and average 20mph, so tend to spend mopst of my time in 1st and 2nd gear, i can more or less tell you where i'm going to start queing on any given day:):)
 
pepi1967 said:
It puzzles me how the governments mind actually works. In one had they are taxing the life out of you at the pumps and in the other they are telling you to get hybrid cars and electric cars because they are cleaner and cheaper so if we all did that they will lose the tax at the pumps anyway. :thinking:
Click to expand...

Like some years ago they told us to switch from petrol to diesel, which was cheaper - then when many did they clobbered the diesel with tax so that it is now more expensive than petrol.
Whatever we use we'll get clobbered ... however we're not only being clobbered by taxes we're being clobbered by whizz-kids manipulating the prices on the market!
 
Each to there own , but personally i havent seen any difference - which isn't that suprising when you see various brand tankers filling up from the same depots. - for example tesco buy a lot of their fuel from BP
 
Last edited:
big soft moose said:
personally i havent seen any difference
Click to expand...

Had to fill up this morning in the city, I've seen it from 138+ to 144+ and a difference of 3p per litre on a 1/2 mile stretch of road!


(Just realised crossed subjects :) )
 
Last edited:
big soft moose said:
Each to there own , but personally i havent seen any difference - which isn't that suprising when you see various brand tankers filling up from the same depots. - for example tesco buy a lot of their fuel from BP
Click to expand...

Yes they do fill up from the same refineries but the additives are added when the fuel is unloaded at the petrol station.
 
big soft moose said:
Each to there own , but personally i havent seen any difference - which isn't that suprising when you see various brand tankers filling up from the same depots. - for example tesco buy a lot of their fuel from BP
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly.

Davec223 said:
Yes they do fill up from the same refineries but the additives are added when the fuel is unloaded at the petrol station.
Click to expand...

[Ace Ventura]
Rea-hea-heally? ;)
[/Ace Ventura]
 
gramps said:
Had to fill up this morning in the city, I've seen it from 138+ to 144+ and a difference of 3p per litre on a 1/2 mile stretch of road!
Click to expand...

i meant in performance - theres an enormous difference in price - I just filled up at tesco a 1.38/l - our local esso is charging 1.45/l . and lets not even get onto motorway price fixing - last time i had to fill up on the M5 it was 1.49/l
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top