MSE News: Supermarkets cut petrol prices

redux

MSE_Guy wrote: »

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Supermarkets are reducing the price of petrol, in one case to its lowest level since February ..."

Read the full story:
Supermarkets cut petrol prices

This simply does not seem to be true.

There were 2 price increases in the previous 2 or 3 weeks, so it might be a bit gullible to be taken in by a press release about a decrease.

The price on Saturday 5th at the local supermarket was no cheaper than the week before, and the same for 3 places I drove past that evening.

Fuel was cheaper around here in September, and cheaper still in July, so I don't believe it's the cheapest for 8 or 9 months.

I think there ought to be an official investigation of fuel prices, by the UK Competitions Commission or a similar body.

Diesel is several pence a litre more expensive than petrol, as pointed out above, without any justification at all. Yes, it sometimes goes up slightly higher in the winter, but it's been more expensive all summer as well.

I know that diesel is cheaper abroad, due to lower duty there, but it seems to me that the difference has been increasing, so I disbelieve that the market here is actually fully competitive.

I used to reckon about 12 pence a litre cheaper in France and Belgium and about 18 pence less in Luxembourg, but now the range of difference can be 22 to 35 pence a litre.

On a recent trip I filled up in Venlo (Netherlands) for €1.30, just north of Vienna for €1.323, and in Luxembourg for €1.174. Equivalent to £1.14, £1.16 and £1.03 while the UK price was from £1.37.

Prices here and there have gone up a bit since then, not down, so I reckon we should be paying from about £1.23 or £1.25 a litre for diesel at the moment.

andygb

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Just had a look. It's at least a week out of date in about 50% of the petrol stations in my area.

Well then, that is because people in your area are too lazy to update the prices on the site, no problems with mine.;)

andygb

dggar wrote: »

Try this site

http://www.whatgas.com/

Enter your post code in the Location box (Top Left)

It relies on everyday users to keep it updated.

:beer:Thanks for the link, the stations in my area have been updated to 5/11 or 6/11. We are seeing 128.9 for unleaded at the Asda and Sainsburys here in Kent.

andygb

redux wrote: »

I used to reckon about 12 pence a litre cheaper in France and Belgium and about 18 pence less in Luxembourg, but now the range of difference can be 22 to 35 pence a litre.

On a recent trip I filled up in Venlo (Netherlands) for €1.30, just north of Vienna for €1.323, and in Luxembourg for €1.174. Equivalent to £1.14, £1.16 and £1.03 while the UK price was from £1.37.

Prices here and there have gone up a bit since then, not down, so I reckon we should be paying from about £1.23 or £1.25 a litre for diesel at the moment.

Thanks for that info Redux, I reckon it is the government telling the petrol companies to keep the prices high, in order to get more tax revenues. In the old days we used to go over to France once a month (we live in Kent), get the essential groceries - wine, wine and more wine, plus great pate and ham, and of course petrol. I haven't been over there since April, so I am out of touch with the prices.

andygb

Just found this link - (click on the blue link to latest survey) for foreign fuel prices. It was last updated at the end of September, but even then you could save £10 on a 50 litre diesel fill up in French supermarkets.

http://www.day-tripper.net/drive-fuel-prices.html

poppasmurf_bewdley

andygb wrote: »

Thanks for that info Redux, I reckon it is the government telling the petrol companies to keep the prices high, in order to get more tax revenues. In the old days we used to go over to France once a month (we live in Kent), get the essential groceries - wine, wine and more wine, plus great pate and ham, and of course petrol. I haven't been over there since April, so I am out of touch with the prices.

But hasn't it now been shown that higher petrol and diesel fuel prices has reduced the amount of fuel being sold, and therefore the Government is actually taking in less money in taxation this year than it did last year.

freebyfifty

Can someone please explain to me why diesel is now so much more expensive than petrol? It always used to be the other way around and I can't work out why that changed...................unless I'm being a bit thick (which is highly likely)

redux

freebyfifty wrote: »

Can someone please explain to me why diesel is now so much more expensive than petrol? It always used to be the other way around and I can't work out why that changed...................unless I'm being a bit thick (which is highly likely)

You're not being thick.

There is no better reason than the conditions in the market, as the duty is the same.

It may cost more to produce diesel, or it may not, I don't know, but that wasn't the case in the past, or only a penny or so at most.

And as I said above, you would see a rise in diesel price in the winter, but it the used to be only 3 or 4 pence, and not all year round. That's because it's very similar to heating oil so there's more demand.

When prices were going up in the summer of 2008, diesel went up more than petrol then, but that effect died away again when the prices came back down

But this constant several pence we've had for a while, it's difficult to understand

redux

andygb wrote: »

Thanks for that info Redux, I reckon it is the government telling the petrol companies to keep the prices high, in order to get more tax revenues. In the old days we used to go over to France once a month (we live in Kent), get the essential groceries - wine, wine and more wine, plus great pate and ham, and of course petrol. I haven't been over there since April, so I am out of touch with the prices.

andygb wrote: »

Just found this link - (click on the blue link to latest survey) for foreign fuel prices. It was last updated at the end of September, but even then you could save £10 on a 50 litre diesel fill up in French supermarkets.

http://www.day-tripper.net/drive-fuel-prices.html

The prices abroad do vary a bit, and the ones I mentioned above were the cheap end of the range.

I might drive half a mile off the motorway for a cheaper place, as it's possible to save about £10 on a tank even on just local variations

A useful general comparison of countries, with what looks to me like averages, is http://energy.eu/

In Belgium there is an official maximum rate set, and some places can be up to 15 cents a litre cheaper. France can vary by almost as much between supermarkets and motorways. Luxembourg has an official maximum rate, and I've never seen anywhere there actually cheaper.

Useful comparison sites:

http://www.prix-carburants.gouv.fr/

http://www.carbu.fr/
http://www.carbu.be/
http://www.carbu.lu/

http://fftanken.nl/

Paulgonnabedebtfree

redux wrote: »

You're not being thick.

There is no better reason than the conditions in the market, as the duty is the same.

It may cost more to produce diesel, or it may not, I don't know, but that wasn't the case in the past, or only a penny or so at most.

And as I said above, you would see a rise in diesel price in the winter, but it the used to be only 3 or 4 pence, and not all year round. That's because it's very similar to heating oil so there's more demand.

When prices were going up in the summer of 2008, diesel went up more than petrol then, but that effect died away again when the prices came back down

But this constant several pence we've had for a while, it's difficult to understand

I had always assumed that it was becausethe oil content in diesel was greater than in petrol so the price was slightly more closely related to the raw product. However, I have since been informed that this is not the case. I think it's just plain profiteering. The petrol companies know full well that diesel gives about 30% extra mileage per litre (usually at the cost of performance and comfort depending what you drive) so they are trying to take advantage of that by screwing the diesel user more than the petrol user.