Fuel Prices and inflation

[aleksandar]

Well, yesterday the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) declared that inflation has come down because (get this) 'fuel prices have come down'!!!

Now as we are all aware, the fuel companies maintain that forecourt prices are influenced by the whole sale world oil barrel prices.

So i dug out my fuel reciepts for the past few months, which includes the period to which the ONS refers.

On the 16 Sept diesel at our locality was £1.349ltr, on 31 Oct diesel was £1.369ltr. Now many of you will remember that the begining of September the barrel price was $79, but rose over a couple of weeks to peak at $88 a barrel. So maybe the price increase of 2pence a litre at the forecourt could be justified.

But if you get a moment just call up the barrel prices over the past 2 weeks. Yep the barrel oil price has been tumbling. At close of play yesterday the barrel oil price is below $55.

But hold on, the fuel pump prices came down 3-4 weeks ago when the barrel price dropped back to the $79 level, yet this week the forecourt prices in the region that i drive HAVE NOT changed to reflect the new barrel price level of $55.

I won't go into those over paying for home heating oil in rural areas not supplied by the gas network. Nor the fact that only a couple of months ago ALL the main energy suppliers with much hand wringing put prices up because of whole sale oil prices.

If the the ONS was forced to account for the Renewables Sector Subsidies and it's impact on energy and fuel prices, as part of the 'Basket of Goods' when working out the rate of inflation i think the figures would be unpalatable.

I feel for those whose pensions and wages are dictated by the 'Official' annual inflation and therefore rely on the ONS being honest when calculating the inflation figures.

My gripe is not with my local fuel stations, and yes there are factors not allude to here that tie the hand of some companies. But i do maintain that we have been taken for mugs for too long.

[Guppy916]

And if we were in France, we would all join forces and protest ! blockade  our local shell / bp fuel stations, maybe block the M25 !! to get results, BUT NO we are British, we just suck it up and pay through the nose, merry christmas guys