Diesel v Petrol Prices

[Mx123456]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, however I have just been checking out the difference between the price per litre for petrol and diesel.

where I live the differential is currently between 12-14p per litre.

According to the AA fuel price statistics this differential was only 5ppl in February 2008.

~Do you think the fuel companies are charging more to diesel customers to pass on headline savings to unleaded drivers.

[Hintza]

Very probably. But also demand for diesel in the UK is relatively high in proportion to petrol usage so that will have some bearing too.

[Pew Pew Pew Lasers!]

Diesel is taxed at a higher rate than petrol. The rest will be simple economics - supply and demand.

[Mx123456]

But supply and demand is no different now to what was occurring in last winter.

There have been no tax changes with respect to the duty and the differential is now 7-8pence higher than earlier in the year.

Does not seem right to me.

[redux]

~Do you think the fuel companies are charging more to diesel customers to pass on headline savings to unleaded drivers.
No. I don't know exactly why the market prices drifted this far apart, but it was happening on the way up, not the way down.

Diesel is taxed at a higher rate than petrol. If you check this, you'll find that it isn't the case

[Conor]

I don't know where they got their statistical data from but diesel has been ~10p a litre or more than petrol for a lot longer than 8 months.

[loofer]

But supply and demand is no different now to what was occurring in last winter.

There have been no tax changes with respect to the duty and the differential is now 7-8pence higher than earlier in the year.

Does not seem right to me.

Everyday, the worldwide known reserves of oil are depeleting. Opec has also cut the production(supply) of oil worldwide. So supply is always changing and in the long run, prices will always rise (a little more than inflation).

The prices have dropped recently due to expectations of stagnated demand.

[Lakeuk]

Few weeks back someone from the Petrol association was quized on the wide difference between petrol and diesel, the reason given was that the current capaticity can't cope with the demand for deisel from people in recent years changing over to the more mpg deisel cars.

They recone it'll be 18/24month for the refinerary plants to catch up with demand and the difference should go back towards the 1-2p difference we're used (assume nothing out of the ordinary happens with tax)

[Pew Pew Pew Lasers!]

No. I don't know exactly why the market prices drifted this far apart, but it was happening on the way up, not the way down.

If you check this, you'll find that it isn't the case

Thank you, I just did and you are indeed correct.