OFT not to investigate Fuel Prices further

[Davros]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-oft-rules-out-fuel-price-probe-8472532.html


here here

Taxation, poor sterling performance vs the dollar and crude prices further up the chain are the obvious causes, and its sensible that lots of tax payers money hasnt been wasted on a prelonged fruitless investigation

 

[Napster]

Dave, you do work for a company in the industry to be fair.

I don't really believe that tax etc have pushed prices up as much as they have done in the past 10-15 years. And the fact supermarkets can have price wars means there is flexibility in the margins.

Personally I think it's a big cartel, and because consumers don't have much choice, they suffer.

 

[Pubey]

Agree with Napster.

http://news.sky.com/story/1044946/fuel-prices-cost-at-pump-is-fair

 

[davewebbsbrain]

The price of crude oil goes up, we pay at the pumps. The price of crude oil goes down, the price at the pump stays as it is.

They are mugging us all off.

Just bought a diesel motor now, more mpg means im saving a bit of money

 

[superblue24]

I smell a rat.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I smell a rat.

You keep your sexual preferences to yourself

 

[Davros]

The price of crude oil goes up, we pay at the pumps. The price of crude oil goes down, the price at the pump stays as it is.

They are mugging us all off.

Just bought a diesel motor now, more mpg means im saving a bit of money

People just say these things because that is what the media say, but where are the real facts to back this up? Take for example the price of petrol at the pumps has fallen by about 4-5 pence since the beginning of December.

Napster, Yes the Supermarkets have price wars. The flexability which you alude to is not down to them selling at a massive profit to start with, but more to do with the fact they can afford to sell at near no profit or a loss leader as it means more people will buy the products inside the store. Note that Tesco are generally the most expensive supermarket for fuel as they are the biggest supermarket share already, whereas Morrisons and Asda are generally the lowest priced for fuel, as they use price wars to generate bigger in store sales.

What a lot of people often forget, but thankfully the Indepenent here, and Sky the other day did point out is the massive effect the £/$ fx has on the price of fuel, and that the price of crude falling will not necessarily mean a fall at the pumps if the exchange rate is heading in the wrong direction.... indeed, when Watchdog did a piece on this a while back, they had a graph showing two trend lines, pump prices (in sterling) vs crude price (in dollars), but chose to totally ignore the fact the exchange rate would have (or they could have converted the crude price into sterling at the relevent rate) which made the info they broadcast quite useless, or more likely suited to their own mission.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Dave, you do work for a company in the industry to be fair.

I don't really believe that tax etc have pushed prices up as much as they have done in the past 10-15 years. And the fact supermarkets can have price wars means there is flexibility in the margins.

Personally I think it's a big cartel, and because consumers don't have much choice, they suffer.

Why not?

The cost of a pint has doubled in the last ten years. I'd guess cigarettes have more than doubled as well.

Every budget they seem to announce a rise in duty on fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

 

[chapperzUK]

This shows the increase in fuel tax in the last 8 years, from 59p to 81p, and crude oil prices going from 13p up to 44p.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...37966/Chart-How-tax-on-petrol-has-soared.html

 

[Davros]

lets look at some numbers

In July 2007, you could get over $2 to the £1, and fuel duty was only 48.35ppl, as well as VAT being only 17.5%

In January 2013, you get only $1.58 to the £1, and fuel duty is at 57.95ppl, as well as VAT being 20%

 

[Pubey]

Good posting Davros.

 

[RobM]

Davros - crude (Brent) was $140 a barrel 2 years ago. You haven't taken that into account.

 

[Davros]

Davros - crude (Brent) was $140 a barrel 2 years ago. You haven't taken that into account.

I was highlighting the external factors of fuel pricing (ie non raw product costs) that would have an effect on the price of fuel, before considering brent crude prices.