UK Petrol (Gas for US) Price SCAM by UK Govt

[jimbo45]

Hi all
The reason given for exhorbitant petrol / gasoline prices in the UK given by the UK govt is that prices are quoted in Dollars so as the Pound Vs the Dollar rate gets worse then the price will have to go UP.

Now I understand markets and people "hedge" -- I've made a number of posts about "Backing" and "Laying" on a market so you will always win whatever the outcome.

But what I CAN'T understand is why the price has gone EXHORBITANTLY high given that for the last few months the POUND STERLING is actually at a 6 month HIGH against the dollar -- so the price should be CHEAPER -- even allowing for the last tax increase.

The world demand isn't significantly higher, the crude price is fairly stable and there's no shortage of tankers to move the stuff to the refineries either.

In fact if you study markets - even allowing for the tax increase the basic price of a Litre of Unleaded in the UK should be about 1.07 GBP per litre -- a friend of mine is now saying that in his area (near London) he's being charged at a SUPERMARKET 1.19 GBP for unleaded.

I'm lucky since when I'm in the UK I run my car on LPG at 0.62 GBP a litre -- but it seems UK customers are getting GOUGED and the reason given just doesn't stack up.

Hopefully I'll FINALLY be able to get back to work tomorrow -- probably will get scalped again with exhorbitant Car Parking charges when I finally get back around 9 days late at Manchester Airport. Wonder if I'll actually haver to PAY extra parking charges for the days that I couldn't get back -- this will cost many times MORE than the flight -- Gouged again it seems.


Cheers
jimbo

 

[z3r010]

The pound has devalued 25% against the dollar over the last 12 months, so it's not really rocket science why fuel that is traded in dollars is more expensive

 

[smarteyeball]

Simple answer: Gouging because they can.

 

[z3r010]

TBH we wouldn't have had too much of an issue if the UK didn't have to bail out Iceland's irresponsible banking industry.

 

[jimbo45]

The pound has devalued 25% against the dollar over the last 12 months, so it's not really rocket science why fuel that is traded in dollars is more expensive

Hi there.

Futures in Petrol / Oil aren't normally traded 12 months in advance -- 90 days is usual in this market and large volumes are traded on the ROTTERDAM Market (The world leader in Petroleum Exchange Trading) for 1 and 2 months as well.

I could understand why prices SHOULD have perhaps been higher 6 months ago -- they weren't actually -- but why just NOW prices are rocketing is a BIG mystery.

The Pound VS the Dollar has been fine in the last 6 Months.

Actually in any case -- but another issue -- people should buy HUGE amounts when the price is low and store it -- Germany and France do this very successfully -- the UK doesn't have large storage facilities so this solution isn't possible.


BTW While I dislike the Icelandic Banks just as much as anybody -- it is still a bit irresponsible of Local Authorities in the UK to "Play Casino" with their customers money. They aren't or shouldn't be Stock Traders.

I'll bet half the people using these banks had now idea of where or even what Iceland was and certainly no idea of it's yearly GNP. If they had they would have realized that the interest rates on offer were just NOT SUSTAINABLE.

Icelandic Banks weren't the only banks that didn't have responsible trading -- just look even today at GOLDMAN SACHS -- and even MOODY'S the International ratings agency (used by the UK and other governments for assesing risk / credit worthiness etc) .

The top guy at Goldman Sachs is still escaping justice by hanging out in London.

Seems they (the UK govt) extradite to the U.S some poor guy messing about with computers only really looking for UFO's etc but leave alone some well healed big time SWINDLER working for Goldman Sachs because they don't want to upset "The City of London" financial markets.

Actually he was operating a very simple "Boiler Scam" as it's known in the Stock Exchange.

He parcels loads of " U.S Sub Prime Slime" - debt ridden mortgages etc into a large Hedge fund -- and then knowing that this stock is essentially useless pushes up the value to ludicrous values getting investors to part with their money -- such as RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland -- neasrly 1 BILLION QUID they coughed up).

Eventually the whole thing implodes -- meanwhile he's walked away with commission fees and a few MILLION quid in bonuses.

If the UK govt has any bottle they will hand the guy over to the US where he can enjoy a nice long holiday provided by the US Federal Government in one of their "prime location hotels" and retrieve the money back from Goldman Sachs -- who should have been allowed to go bust at the same time as Leaman Bros.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Dwarf]

The British motorist has, for many years, been treated as cash-cows by successive governments. Here is a simple comparison of the price hike over the last 25 years (approximate figures):

25 years ago:

Car: Mini
Tank Capacity: 5 Gallons
Cost of full tank: £5
Cost/Gallon: £1

Today:

Car: Renault Clio
Tank Capacity: 10 Gallons
Cost of full tank: £50
Cost/Gallon £5

That works out at a 500% increase in fuel charges over the last 25 or so years. It wouldn't be so bad if our road and transport infrastructure were benefiting, but the evidence to support that just simply isn't there.