OFT Report on Petrol/Diesel Prices

DorsetDude said:
So a report from the office of fair trading is due out today on an investigation into fuel prices at the pumps and whether the fluctuations in crude prices are reflected.

I fully expect the report to say they could find no evidence of foul play and all the fuel companies/forecourts are wonderfully honest.

This even though, on one road near here you have a tesco garage selling diesel at 137p and 300 yards down the road, BP selling diesel at 144p. Why people even bother going into the BP place is a mystery.

And why is it as soon as price of crude per barrel goes up "We have to reflect the costs at the pumps" even though in this country most of the price at the pumps is tax/duty so even huge rises in crude should have little impact at the forecourt. And why is it if the crude price does have such a big hit do the prices never seem to drop again when the crude price comes back down?

Still of course we're not being ripped off at all are we? No of course not.

Here's hoping Im wrong and the report might actually say the truth and do us all a bit of a favour.

Angry,
Tunbridge Wells
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Read the report in detail, their sample period was 6 weeks.

Says it all, if they read the AA and RAC collated data that has been going on for many years (think its well over a decade) they would see a lot of suspicious behaviour.

Right to a parliamentary level.
 
The wife and I do a 30 mile round trip to work every day, I work shifts and she works days so between us on fuel alone we spend £250 a month on getting to work.
Maybe they could bring in some tax breaks when you are forced to us your car for work etc. And before people say get the bus, there isn't one a 5am.
I left the military in 2003 and since then the price of fuel as doubled, has the price of crude oil doubled in the same period????
 
Gr8Shot said:
I left the military in 2003 and since then the price of fuel as doubled, has the price of crude oil doubled in the same period????
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No. It has more than trebled ($28/barrel to $97/barrel according to the internet, which about fits with what I remember the domestic heating oil price doing).

That probably wasn't the answer you were expecting.
 
onomatopoeia said:
No. It has more than trebled ($28/barrel to $97/barrel according to the internet, which about fits with what I remember the domestic heating oil price doing).

That probably wasn't the answer you were expecting.
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No admittedly it wasn't but then again war will do that won't it

Also in 2009 it was $40 a barrel more than now so how can it be more expensive now?

Nothing will change because the amount it is taxed, lower the price = less tax and this government is not going to allow that to happen.
 
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Rapscallion said:
I thought all farmers ran on red?!

The 'Ministry' were dipping tanks of vehicles leaving the car parks at the Royal Welsh show a few years ago, there were quite a few land rovers parked up for the night!
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Mate of mine has a series II landy.. about a million years old - wind vents - you open the hatch under the window....

"proper" fuel cap is blocked off so if dipped would be ok...

however there is another fuel fill under the drivers seat.... basically it (still) runs on red..

Maybe. Alledgedly.
 
Lynton said:
Mate of mine has a series II landy.. about a million years old - wind vents - you open the hatch under the window....

"proper" fuel cap is blocked off so if dipped would be ok...

however there is another fuel fill under the drivers seat.... basically it (still) runs on red..

Maybe. Alledgedly.
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wouldnt it be easier to take all the seats out bar the drivers, and register it as a tractor ? then it could legally run on red.
 
Lynton said:
Why?
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Why not? I suppose at car shows he feels the car looks better without the front number plate. Or better still just to wind up the film crew on Wheeler Dealers, by retracting it on some shots but on display in others. When they realised what he was doing he got a bit of a telling off. No sense of humour, some people.:lol:
 
Lynton said:
Mate of mine has a series II landy.. about a million years old - wind vents - you open the hatch under the window....

"proper" fuel cap is blocked off so if dipped would be ok...

however there is another fuel fill under the drivers seat.... basically it (still) runs on red..

Maybe. Alledgedly.
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Your 'mate' (;)) needs to be aware the fuel filter is also often tested!
 
big soft moose said:
wouldnt it be easier to take all the seats out bar the drivers, and register it as a tractor ? then it could legally run on red.
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but only for a limited number of miles on road, and only between land used by the operator. (max of 1 mile i think?)
 
IIRC (from my time as a farm hand), there's no limit on distance but tractors are limited as far as maximum speed (again IIRC, 20mph.)
 
nearly - its 20mph for normal tractors - and 40mph for those that have uprated suspension , braking etc and qualify for 'fast tractor' registration ( Unimogs, fastrac, some bobcat/manitou types , and regregistered 4x4s etc)

theres no limit on millage as many farmers have fields miles apart so a 1 mile limit would be impossible
 
You've made me curious, as i definitely heard there was a limited distance - but you two also seem to be sure.

https://www.gov.uk/agricultural-vehicle-licences-and-fuel

Says

Vehicles used between different parts of the land
An agricultural vehicle can be used on more than one piece of land if it:

is used only for agriculture, horticulture or forestry work
is used on public roads only when passing between different areas of land occupied by the same person
does not travel further than 1.5 kilometres on a public road when passing between two such areas and has a nil licence in force in respect
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But the same page also says:-

Tractors
A tractor qualifies as an excepted vehicle if it is designed and constructed primarily for off-road use. An excepted tractor can be used on a public road solely for:

agriculture, horticulture or forestry work
cutting verges bordering public roads
cutting hedges or trees bordering public roads or bordering verges which border public roads
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:thinking:
 
thats to do with road tax - if a tractor is exempted from road tax as an agricultural vehicle it can only legally move a max of 1.5 km between feilds on the public highway.

you can however tax a tractor as a road vehicle and use it on the highway as much as you like (not motorways) - which is what contractors (like what i used to be) etc do because they need to move their tractors to sites all over an area
 
big soft moose said:
thats to do with road tax - if a tractor is exempted from road tax as an agricultural vehicle it can only legally move a max of 1.5 km between feilds on the public highway.

you can however tax a tractor as a road vehicle and use it on the highway as much as you like (not motorways) - which is what contractors (like what i used to be) etc do because they need to move their tractors to sites all over an area
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But can you then use red diesel?

Tractors with a vehicle excise licence - such as a general haulage vehicle - cannot use red diesel either on or off public roads, regardless of whether it is undertaking agricultural, horticultural or forestry work.
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At least one part of the OFT report hasn't turned out as I expected.... I was expecting to see the suggestion that supermarkets were putting smaller retailers out of business to be countered with a forced price hike on the supermarkets.... ie we all have to pay more for fuel because single site operators can't get the volume discounts.

Glad at least we managed to avoid that one, that pretty much would have been the last straw!
 
Unfortunately we don't have much choice. One local service station, with another about 10 miles away, and they both charge about the same. There's a Tesco and a Morrisons about 20 miles away but the savings at their pumps certainly aren't enough to justify driving there and back just for fuel, and we don't have any other reason to go there.
 
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