Oil is cheaper – now cut petrol prices!
GREEDY petrol companies were accused of profiteering yesterday as pump prices continued to soar – but the cost of oil fell dramatically.
The price of a barrel of oil and the wholesale cost of diesel have both dropped by around 10 per cent in the past two weeks.
But suppliers are refusing to pass on the benefits. Analysts said diesel should be at least 7p a litre cheaper by tomorrow. But last night diesel and petrol continued their relentless rise, with the average pump price climbing to almost £1.30 and £1.17 a litre.
As anger also rose, hundreds of motorcyclists staged a demonstration and pressure groups joined the Daily Express’s crusade for a cut in the fuel tax now. For more and more drivers are
fed up with paying 20 per cent more for unleaded and 33 per cent more for diesel than in June last year.
In particular, pressure groups said there was no reason for cuts in wholesale diesel prices not to be passed on immediately. AA president Edmund King said motorists should not be “strung along”.
He said: “We would expect to see changes in wholesale prices work their way through to the pump much, much faster than changes to the oil price. After all, this is a finished product.
“Unless fuel suppliers can come up with a valid reason why diesel prices are still going up when wholesale prices have dropped, the AA will call for an immediate investigation.
“We will not allow drivers to be strung along as they have in the past, to the extent that we may call for a price regulator to ensure the price transparency seen in the United States and Australia.”
You can’t have the retailer putting prices up almost immediately when world prices go up and then not putting them down.
Explaining it was the supply companies which trade in oil who are failing to pass on the price cuts, Mr King added: “We regularly see that when the world price goes up, the pump price follows almost immediately. But when the world price drops, there is a lag at the pumps.
“We feel there is profiteering going on here. This is something the Government should look at and investigate.”
Mr King added: “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have the retailer putting prices up almost immediately when world prices go up and then not putting them down.
“The two have to add up. Somewhere along the line not all the price falls are being reflected at the pumps.”
The chairman of the Association of British Drivers, Brian Gregory, said: “We need prices to come down quickly because it drains everybody’s spending power and that just forces us from the brink of recession into full recession.
“What we need is Mr Brown or Mr Darling actually to decrease the tax levels that are responsible for this burden. It is the Government that is the real villain.
“I want Mr Brown to decrease the level of tax on fuel to the same level as in the US.”
The soaring cost of Britain’s fuel has prompted an overwhelming response to the Daily Express crusade.
More than 42,000 people have now signed the vouchers we are printing every day and which will be passed on to Downing Street.
The frustration at soaring pump prices saw hundreds of motorcyclists stage a motorway demonstration in Manchester, which brought roads to a grinding halt.
Energy experts Platts reported the 10 per cent fall in the wholesale cost of diesel imported between May 23 and yesterday as crude oil dropped to around 123 dollars a barrel from its record high of 135 dollars a fortnight ago.
The motorists’ summer of misery looks set to continue as petrol tanker drivers prepare to go on strike over a pay dispute.
*** GET A DAILY UPDATE ON THE COST OF LIVING IN THE DAILY EXPRESS NEWSPAPER ***
Supplies to 1,000 Shell garages will be disrupted if the four-day walkout goes ahead as planned from next Friday, prompting fears of panic-buying.
RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said: “Motorists should plan ahead, as forecourts are likely to get very busy leading up to the closures.”
The tanker drivers have rejected a 6.5 per cent pay rise from their employers and are sticking to their demand for a 13.2 per cent increase.
The Unite union and the drivers’ employers have agreed to meet the conciliation service Acas in the next few days.
Unite national officer Ron Webb said: “Shell makes over £1billion a month in profits and there is no excuse for allowing tanker drivers to be paid no more than they were 15 years ago.”
The dispute involves 641 drivers employed by two firms, Hoyer UK and Suckling, which both have distribution contracts with Shell.
*** INFLATION WATCH: SEE THE DAILY EXPRESS COST OF LIVING INDEX ***
[>
