Why is Diesel more expensive than petrol?

balsingh

Can anyone explain? I remember back in the day when I passed my driving test in 1992, diesel was a few pence a litre cheaper than petrol. So why has the price gone above petrol now? Recently, I have seen diesel at an average 4p/litre more.

I'd like to think that its not because more people are driving diesel cars these days so the government are cashing in.

zolablue25

Diesels no account for something like 1 in every 3 new cars purchased. This is far higher than at any other time. The oil companies have not invested heavily enough in their refineries to cope with the extra demand for the diesel and therefore there is a bit of a shortage (relatively speaking) of diesel. There was an article in the news recently that said with current trends continuing there wil be a genuine shortage of supply of diesel within 5 years IF the oil companies do not invest in their refineries to produce more.

Although the governement do see the motorist as an easy target, in this case I don't believe they are profiteering.

darude

I always thought its because they realised Diesels gives better mileage. If they brought down Petrol prices by a lot, then I would buy a petrol car - otherwise being a moneysavingexpert :-P I'm gonna stick to my Diesel.

pompeyrich

If the production difficulties/ extra investment reasons are true then why is diesel still much cheaper than petrol in France and Spain ? Must be getting cynical in my old age but darudes theory sounds more like it. LPG will be hit as soon as enough people have converted.

ManAtHome

Sales of deisels went up a lot when company tax was revised to take co2 emissions into account.

DO_YOU_KNOW_DAVE

I know I harp on about it, but I,ve just filled up on Bio Diesel at 75.9p a litre!
That will come down in price when I start making my own at home!

chris73

When I first bought a Diesel in 1993, Diesel was around 5p - 7p a ltr cheaper than petrol. However back then unless you could afford a top of the range model, or one of the new (back then) range of VW TDI technology then your diesel smelt like an oil refinery, had the acceleration of a tortoise, and was often refered to by the petrol heads as a traction engine!.

Now-a-days, diesel technology has evolved with preformance similar to mid range petrols whilst offering better economy, in short diesels became desirable to the average family motorists and even company car owner.

I believe that the cost of diesel has been increased to bridge the gap between those changing from a petrol car to a diesel. After all some diesels offer 10, or even 15mpg difference between petrol and diesel models and in theory the motorist will be visiting a garage to fill up less, therefore less revenue for the oil companies so you are using less fuel so the price goes up so that you pay more per litre. Call me Mr Sceptical!.

I wish that I could fill up on Bio-Diesel, after all I want to help the environment too!, however there seems to be a lack of filling stations selling it!, and I think I must have missed the huge publicity campaign to promote it.

supermum4

Hi what is bio diesel and were can i get it? and how can you make it yourself? sorry if this is a stupid question.

Porker

Here's how to make your own diesel. I'm not reccomending it or anything, this is just here for information purposes...


Filter waste vegetable oil to remove any food scraps or solid particles.
Heat waste vegetable oil to remove any water content (optional).
Perform titration to determine how much catalyst is needed.
Prepare sodium methoxide.
Heat waste vegetable oil , mix in the sodium methoxide while stirring.
Allow to settle, remove the glycerine.
Wash and dry.
Check quality.

process came from here

balsingh

Where can you buy this biodiesel already made? Will it work in any normal diesel engine?

Porker

you can find suppliers here