Fuel Prices near me

[scubadude]

Petrol £1.04 and Diesel at £1.09 on Saturday a the local ESSO having a "Discount Day", I almost wished I had had emptier tanks!

[Dog Star]

Jimbeaux said:

deltashad said:

Hope the petrol prices go up soon or I'll be out of a job.

It is a double-edged sword for some industries and states, mine being one.

I'd like cheaper fuel as much as the next person, but I have to say that something has got to crack somewhere; be it in the oil industry where they can't pump the stuff at these prices or the exchequer which must be losing billions - and with a GE coming up he's not going to dare crank fuel tax up.

[CraigyMc]

Dog Star said:

or the exchequer which must be losing billions

True, but it's probably not as big a hole as you are thinking due to how the taxation is structured.

The rate of the fuel duty component of the price of petrol & diesel doesn't vary at all with market forces - it's 0.5795p per litre, irrespective of what else the vendor chooses to add to it to cover costs. Everyone's favourite kick in the balls is that VAT is levied on that duty (so that's an additional 0.1159p per litre in tax to cover VAT on the fuel duty). This is why people complain about "tax on top of tax".

Put another way: in order for a vendor legally sell you fuel cheaply, with you paying the duty and the VAT on the duty, even if the vendor simply gave the fuel to you for free, it'd still cost you 69.54p per litre in duty and VAT on that duty. That 69.54p price is as low as the price can go under the current tax rules.

• If we said fuel was 100p per litre, it'd be 69.54p per litre in duty and VAT on the duty. The remaining 30.46p would be 6.092p as VAT and 24.368p to the oil company/retailer/cost of production. The government takes 75.632p per litre in tax in this example.

• If we said fuel was 120p per litre, it'd be 69.54p per litre in duty and VAT on the duty. The remaining 50.46p would be 10.092p as VAT and 40.368p to the oil company/retailer/cost of production. The government takes 79.632p per litre in tax in this example.

So - yes, HMRC's take goes down a bit when prices fall, but a price drop of 20p (from 120p to 100p) only means their tax take goes down 4p.

All the HMRC are missing because of the lower price of fuel is the 20% VAT on the lower prices - they lose a fifth of the price difference per litre.
It's not nothing, but equally the tax take hasn't gone down proportionally with the fuel price cuts overall.

Another factor to consider: when fuel is cheaper, people tend to use more of it, which narrows the gap in HMRC revenue, because more fuel used = more overall VAT and duty to levy.

[A.J.M]

Thanks CraigyMC.

Put nicely into simple terms for simple people like me to understand.

106 and 113 locally.
The drop from the highest of last year to now is 23p for me.
£18.86 a tank saving, so £56.58 a month.

Plus i get a lot of business mileage claim back so the cheaper it goes, the more i earn off that too.

[beanbag]

Just saw £0.76 for diesel in Gibraltar....funnily enough, prices are pretty similar in Spain too at just £0.82p for diesel also.

[R8VXF]

107.7p At Asda Lower Earley (Reading)

116.9p for Super at BP on the Wokingham Road opposite The 3 Tuns.

[Benjy911]

Looks like Asda are bringing them down again.

https://twitter.com/asda/status/552051981700067330

[Pit Pony]

The woman in front of me at Tesco, had 20p off the 113.9p per litre price.

I think she ended up with a £7 reduction.

[J4CKO]

CraigyMc said:

Dog Star said:

or the exchequer which must be losing billions

True, but it's probably not as big a hole as you are thinking due to how the taxation is structured.

The rate of the fuel duty component of the price of petrol & diesel doesn't vary at all with market forces - it's 0.5795p per litre, irrespective of what else the vendor chooses to add to it to cover costs. Everyone's favourite kick in the balls is that VAT is levied on that duty (so that's an additional 0.1159p per litre in tax to cover VAT on the fuel duty). This is why people complain about "tax on top of tax".

Put another way: in order for a vendor legally sell you fuel cheaply, with you paying the duty and the VAT on the duty, even if the vendor simply gave the fuel to you for free, it'd still cost you 69.54p per litre in duty and VAT on that duty. That 69.54p price is as low as the price can go under the current tax rules.

• If we said fuel was 100p per litre, it'd be 69.54p per litre in duty and VAT on the duty. The remaining 30.46p would be 6.092p as VAT and 24.368p to the oil company/retailer/cost of production. The government takes 75.632p per litre in tax in this example.

• If we said fuel was 120p per litre, it'd be 69.54p per litre in duty and VAT on the duty. The remaining 50.46p would be 10.092p as VAT and 40.368p to the oil company/retailer/cost of production. The government takes 79.632p per litre in tax in this example.

So - yes, HMRC's take goes down a bit when prices fall, but a price drop of 20p (from 120p to 100p) only means their tax take goes down 4p.

All the HMRC are missing because of the lower price of fuel is the 20% VAT on the lower prices - they lose a fifth of the price difference per litre.
It's not nothing, but equally the tax take hasn't gone down proportionally with the fuel price cuts overall.

Another factor to consider: when fuel is cheaper, people tend to use more of it, which narrows the gap in HMRC revenue, because more fuel used = more overall VAT and duty to levy.

Plus people are out spending that little bit they have spare, very difficult to accurately calculate the impact on the economy, so many factors, another one is the money wiped off Oil and Gas shares and the fact Audi and co wont be selling as many cars in Aberdeen

[corozin]

I know this thread has focussed mostly on the lowering price of fuel everywhere but I thought I would take the opportunity to do a limited name & shame for the Shell station at Burton in Kendal services on the M6 which last week, despite the wordwide price drop, was still advertising super unleaded at 148.9p/litre

How these fkers get away with it is beyond me.

[droopsnoot]

I paid 109.9p for Shell unleaded in Talke (Stoke) at the weekend, would have been 108.9 if I'd stopped at the Shell station near Festival Park. I think Sainsburys were 104.9p.

[Burwood]

corozin said:

I know this thread has focussed mostly on the lowering price of fuel everywhere but I thought I would take the opportunity to do a limited name & shame for the Shell station at Burton in Kendal services on the M6 which last week, despite the wordwide price drop, was still advertising super unleaded at 148.9p/litre

How these fkers get away with it is beyond me.

They have a monopoly however you can also point the finger of the land owners who charge super crazy rents. The Texaco on Sloane Avenue is the highest in the UK. I bet that it's charging at least £1.50

[loudlashadjuster]

corozin said:

I know this thread has focussed mostly on the lowering price of fuel everywhere but I thought I would take the opportunity to do a limited name & shame for the Shell station at Burton in Kendal services on the M6 which last week, despite the wordwide price drop, was still advertising super unleaded at 148.9p/litre

How these fkers get away with it is beyond me.

Partly supply and demand, partly because they are required by the terms of their MSO license to be open 24/7 and offer free toilets, shop etc. and a hot, seated meal service at all times. Keeping lights and heating on and staff around all night to serve the odd pack of McCoy’s isn’t cheap and has to be recovered somehow.

Don't like it? Check your satnav for nearest stations and pull off the motorway one junction up/down. 100% up to you

[Burwood]

can someone comment on my assumption. We are currently buying fuel that was in the supply chain, maybe 4-6 weeks maybe more. We are well behind using spot oil prices? I calculate diesel today using $48/b should be under a quid although my math could be off.

[Jimbeaux]

stephen300o said:

I was feeling good about our fuel prices till my US friend says he is paying $1.60 a gallon.

A $1.58 / Gallon here actually; but what are 2 pennies between friends?

[R8VXF]

Jimbeaux said:

stephen300o said:

I was feeling good about our fuel prices till my US friend says he is paying $1.60 a gallon.

A $1.58 / Gallon here actually; but what are 2 pennies between friends?

What is that in real money and real gallons?

[007 VXR]

How low could it go ? 0.99?

[Lost soul]

stephen300o said:

I was feeling good about our fuel prices till my US friend says he is paying $1.60 a gallon.

I find that very hard to believe

[Gibson70]

£1.03 unleaded at Esso in Aylesbury !

[hornetrider]

Gibson70 said:

£1.03 unleaded at Esso in Aylesbury !

Driving a V8 has never felt so good!