Understanding fuel pricing

[DHGTR]

Guys/Gals,
Something puzzles me!
From what i am led to believe about fuel refining there are different stages that different fuels are 'bled off' during the refining process.

1st - aviation fuel
2nd - diesel
3rd - fuel oils
4th - petrol

Now i am by no means an expert or even an avid follower of the oil distilling process so please be gentle with me, but if that order is somewhere near correct , why is diesel 60pence a gallon more expensive than petrol.

I know this could be just the oil companies profiting from lots of diesel cars and lorries, but does anyone know enough about this to explain it properly?

This is not a knock at anybody or any company its a genuine attempt to get a little more understanding about the fuel pricing.

thanks

[SS HSV]

It's nothing to do with the quality of fuel per se; it is ALL to do with the amount of tax that the robbing bds can extract from your pocket - make no mistake.

If you could get your car to run on free fart gas (and I am sure I could) the 'Passing Windfall Tax' for you would be about £3.50 per fart.. you may laugh now but in a few months it will probably happen if this lot can get away with it!

[B17NNS]

I think petrol is the first out, followed by kerosene, then diesel, then heating oil.

[speedy_thrills]

SS HSV said:

It's nothing to do with the quality of fuel per se; it is ALL to do with the amount of tax that the robbing bds can extract from your pocket - make no mistake.

Edited by speedy_thrills on Sunday 10th August 23:58

[Overhaulin]

Hweres a guide to the refining process

http://www.exxonmobil.com/Australia-English/PA/Fil...

I thought most of the differential was due to changes in fuel duty.

have a search for the retail breakdown of a litre of fuel the oil companies take is around 25-30p

[VxDuncan]

Ignoring the tax for a minute, surely the ratio of the different volumes of distilled elements is more critical than the temperature at which it is obtained?

Was I the only one that distilled crude oil into its different elements at school? IIRC it stank a fair bit, and somehow by turning the heat off I managed to get the refracting column (?) to cool and therefore suck cold water in and crack the glass. Knackers.

[speedy_thrills]

VxDuncan said:

surely the ratio of the different volumes of distilled elements is more critical than the temperature at which it is obtained?

That depends on how thorough you are being about it.

[RobDickinson]

VxDuncan said:

Ignoring the tax for a minute, surely the ratio of the different volumes of distilled elements is more critical than the temperature at which it is obtained?

Well as an end product yes.

But you cant (at this stage) change what ratio's the crude splits into, you do that later with cracking.

[mcflurry]

The tax on diseasal and proper petrol is almost the same give or take 2p at around 50p/litre...

[kambites]

SS HSV said:

It's nothing to do with the quality of fuel per se; it is ALL to do with the amount of tax that the robbing bds can extract from your pocket - make no mistake.

Rubbish. Isn't the duty on (ULS) diesel and petrol are the same in this country? If it's not identical, it's very close.

Edited by kambites on Monday 11th August 08:28

[HundredthIdiot]

Supply and demand, presumably.

If everyone in the world ran their combustion engines on petrol, diesel would be very cheap.

I wonder what will happen to diesel prices if/when the US starts using it in passenger vehicles.

But the effects may be local, since IIRC petroleum products tend to be refined locally.

[kambites]

I think some of it comes down to the way we refine it too. I remember someone on another thread saying that you could, um, refine the refinement process to be more efficient at producing petrol or diesel or plastic or whatever... since most of the refining stations were built before diesel became popular with motorists, I suppose they aren't really set up right for what the current market demands.