Holy crap! 8.62!

Can i just say that:

1. Prices are rising in the UK but proportionately not as much because:
> oil is only a small fraction of total cost the rest is tax.
>we dont use dollars to buy oil.
2. We have long had high petrol prices and this is good for two reasons:
> high prices over the long term lead to more efficient vehicles we are at around 30mpg average compared to the us 20mpg.
>revenue is raised from those who want to drive (and we are overwhelmingly urban so there are options) therefore for a given level of public sergvices we can have lower income tax than might be otherwise nessicary.

Well, I'm AMAZED to hear that petrol sales have been down 20% over the past year, because here in the south of England, where most of the people live, the congestion is just the same as ever. And never mind the size of our roads - over the past couple of decades we've opened out of town supermarkets which have put local shops out of business so we HAVE to drive to get our groceries, we've made it so that people have to commute long distances to work ...we've gone collectively mad, and it's hard to see how we can get back from this position. Put the price of petrol up even more, I suppose. But it explains why we have so many small cars on our roads, and why we mind about fuel economy

Joanna

Well, I'm AMAZED to hear that petrol sales have been down 20% over the past year, because here in the south of England, where most of the people live, the congestion is just the same as ever. And never mind the size of our roads - over the past couple of decades we've opened out of town supermarkets which have put local shops out of business so we HAVE to drive to get our groceries, we've made it so that people have to commute long distances to work ...we've gone collectively mad, and it's hard to see how we can get back from this position. Put the price of petrol up even more, I suppose. But it explains why we have so many small cars on our roads, and why we mind about fuel economy

Joanna

Thank you so much for sharing this...
High gas prices in the UK must be George Bush's fault too, right?

1. the UK gallon is bigger than the US gallon.
2. people generally don't drive as far as drivers in the UK as everything is nearer. All suburbs have their own shops within walking distance
3. public transport is MUCH better than the US (here in So CA its virtually non existant)

"1. the UK gallon is bigger than the US gallon."

The headline is a conversion from pounds/liters to dollars/US gallons, so that distinction between the imperial and US gallon doesn't apply here.

OPEC doesn't give a f*ck about demand.

public transport in the UK is a joke. A friend recently had to take the train from London to Liverpool return at the last moment at peak business time. What did it cost? £350!!!! (and not even for first class!) Astonishing!!!

High gas prices in the UK ARE George Bush's fault, along with the recession that is just kicking in... Tony Blair had a hand in it too, but ol' shrub has done more to damage the world than any president before him.

As to the claim that OPEC doesn't care about demand, I must say I don't see it. Unless major events aren't making the news I read, no where actually is experiencing any fuel shortages. Anyone can go buy gas. Which means plenty of oil is being produced and shipped. Remember not long ago the Saudis told Bush they didn't even have buyers for all of their oil being pumped. The recent price rises could be any mix of supply, demand, and speculation, I have no idea, but to blame OPEC single handedly is crazy: after all, as long as they can have a high price it is in their interest to sell more oil. Why wouldn't they?

I have cooked up a comparison on different energy sources, while it is more to home energy supply but those technologies can be modified to fuel transportation:

http://tablefy.com/compare/538/Types-of-Home-Energy-Supply

I hate to admit but like any addiction for someone to recover from any, it takes an intervention or, something really really bad to happen to give a slap to the face.

"The recent price rises could be any mix of supply, demand, and speculation, I have no idea, but to blame OPEC single handedly is crazy: after all, as long as they can have a high price it is in their interest to sell more oil. Why wouldn't they?"

There is one good reason to not sell as much oil as you can, you expect much higher prices in the future. The cheapest and easiest way to store oil is to leave it in the ground.

I find that most if not all reports by so called agency’s are a fabrication of lies to deceive governments and people who are too blind or stupid to see what an expensive and controlling country the UK has become.
I live in wet and windy Cornwall, and the average cost of a UK gallon of unleaded petrol is £6.12 or a US gallon £5.16 ($10.32). Public transport is a joke with buses on main routes only so I would estimate that 90% of people working here have to use a car for work, school or shopping.
I bought a smart car to save on costs as I work in the middle of nowhere and start at 5am in the morning. Not a bus or train to be seen. I work until I finish then have to start my second job and if I waited for a bus that by the way is 1.2miles to the nearest stop I would lose around 3 hours a day. I then discover that despite changing to a green car the cost to run it is now higher than when I had a 1.6L Ford.
Remember when we were pushed to cheaper unleaded that increased in price to be higher than the leaded fuel. Then the diesel was the target of the government, starting at a low price and now higher than petrol. I wonder if anyone had worked out the mileage that is not saved any more. Now we have LPG, the next target if it proves to be popular and it will end up as the same or higher than diesel.
It’s a con, as is the push to greener fuels. Convert to LPG and you have to cover 50,000 mile to recoup the cost of the conversion before you see any benefit. At least 3 years average driving for a car but a duel fuel will be longer so by the time the target has been reached the post will have been moved.
It’s not about saving the environment anymore in this country it about how much tax can the government take before people get wise to the con.
As a final note, who do you think pays all these think tanks and agency’s to tell us how bad we are. The TAX payer. Ironic isn’t it.