Another 1p !?!?!?

[Mr.T]

Please, somebody tell me what i'm missing ?.
I have a reasonable understanding how the price of petrol is arrived at, but I must be missing something.
As we all know, at the turn of the year it went up a few times due to various reasons, fuel duty, a change in VAT rate, and a rise in oil price, along with a slightly downward $/£ rate.
However, since around January 12th, the $/£ rate has risen from around $1.56 to around £1.59’ish. The cost of oil has very slowly dropped from around $98.5/barrel to around $96/barrel (source BBC Business Market Data). So, the way I see it, we’d be getting slightly more $ for our £, and the cost of oil now makes it a little cheaper than it was nearly 2 weeks ago – so the price of petrol should’ve dropped slightly right ??......NO.
My local Sainsbury’s put 1p on mid/late last week, and FFS, another 1p went on overnight last night......why?? – so a 2p rise in the last week, when it should all be getting a little cheaper.
I know I’m not the only one getting pi**ed off about this, but are we really really just getting bent over and shafted, or, am I really not upto speed on this.
I know these price fluctuations take time to filter through, but I don’t see there’s any reason why petrol should’ve gone up over the last 10-12 days, and an upward oil price get’s filtered through to the motorist within 2-3 days……………..so how’s this work then & what am I missing?. Thanks

[chr15b]

they'll tell you the price change takes a while to sho0w at the pumps due to stock held etc

however note how quickly it goes up in relation to oil price and $ rate however also note how slowly it goes down

[Mr.T]

Exactly my point, hence I DO NOT BELEIVE this recent 2 x 1p rise is down to upward oil/$ prices filtering through......if it is, then this time next week it will go down again by 2 x 1p won't it ........

[klimakool]

i believe that tanker driver pay increase and the base cost of refinery running has now all come into the equation for the rising cost

[Snoggledog]

The price you pay at the pump bears very little relationship to the price of a barrel of crude. IIRC the value of crude is only a reflection of what the trading market thinks it's worth and not what is actually paid for it.

[MadKipper]

The pound is dropping in value today like a sod.
This makes all imports more expensive.
A shame we can't get more North Sea oil for Britain.

[tvrjules]

thinking back, it's amazing we had all those fuel protest when petrol reached £1 per litre, close to bringing the country to it's knees....and now....nothing! not even the hauliers.

[BoRED S2upid]

Its not related to anything it will continue to increase until we are all riding a horse to work with a tax disk on its snout and being fined £1000 a time when it fouls on the road.

[munroman]

I used to know a guy who works in fuel distribution, for Europe most of the traded fuel comes out of Rotterdam, and goes to the highest bidder.

Right now the Northern Hemisphere is having a really cold winter, so 'Diesel' is being used for heating oil, which has pushed the price up.

The Crude price and pump prices have become increasingly separated due to refinery capacity, speculators, and the demand from China.