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"Spring petrol sales decline despite lower forecourt prices"

(10 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by kaputnik
  • Latest reply from crowriver

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  1. kaputnik
    Moderator

    From the BBC
    Nearly half a billion fewer litres of petrol and diesel were sold between April and June than during the same period last year, says the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

    The reduction came despite a fall in fuel prices during the period.

    It followed a big rise in the amount of petrol bought at the beginning of the year when the threat of a tanker drivers' strike led to panic buying.

    The AA motoring organisation called it a "huge drop."

    I wonder how many miles of avoided journeys that equates to (and the world still continued to spin).

    Good news for drivers ultimately, as there are now half a billion more litres of petrol and diesel left until we run out!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. steveo
    Member

    4 billion miles less driven with a fairly generous 35mpg not sure what the UK average is so I don't know if that really is a significant reduction.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. crowriver
    Member

    Interesting that this story contradicts all the others that gripe about how expensive driving is these days; how honest, hard-working, hard-pressed family motorists are having to make heroic sacrifices just to keep their vehicles on the road.

    Still the AA and most commenters on the story refuse to believe the cost of motoring has decreased, talking about "squeezing profit" and "price gouging".

    So, I wonder which version of events is total bullsh1t?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. Min
    Member

    You have to love how this is being pitched as a disaster.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. Min
    Member

    Also read the selected comments. People moaning about how they can no longer afford to drive aimlessly about all the time. Such woe!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    "now half a billion more litres of petrol and diesel left until we run out!"

    Not strictly true as crude doesn't have to be made into petrol.

    Seems the "run out"'day gets further away for fossil fuels.

    More pollution and landscape destruction from oil/tar sands/shales 'exploitation' etc.

    All to have 'more of the same' and let more people have 'western' 'standards of living'.

    Might be worth it if there could actually be a coherent and practical vision/probability of any sort of 'post carbon future'.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. Lezzles
    Member

    There was a fabulous interview with Ed Milliband on BBC this morning asking what he was going to do about the petrol prices if he was PM. Unfortunately he didn't say subsidise public transport and encourage people to walk and cycle a bit more....

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. kaputnik
    Moderator

    That's also a lot more than half a billion pounds that people spent on something else apart from petrol and diesel. And of course that's half a billion poundish of taxable revenue that the Government won't see. With the accountants running the Government, why would they consider reducing fuel consumption and thereby lowering tax reciepts would be a good thing?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. steveo
    Member

    From a purely economics pov its good news for retailers and bad for the government. Assuming £1.30 a litre the govt would get roughly £130m in VAT receipt if people spent on luxury instead of petrol, less if they actually are using their fuel savings to put food on the table. But its an extra £500m in the economy for folk to buy stuff rather than just driving round sitting in traffic.

    The tax receipts for petrol would be around £400m including VAT and fuel duty so more for the govt and oil companies but less for retail or savings or what ever people do with their money when they're not supporting a 100 miles a day driving habit or a cycling habit...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. crowriver
    Member

    Anecdotally, a number of folk I know claim to be trying to pay off debts early: credit cards. loans, mortgages. Taking advantage of historic low interest rates to do so.

    This may be why many say they are cutting back on other expenditure, including driving, purchasing fripperies, and so on. In other words they couldn't actually afford the lifestyle they had earlier in the first place without silly levels of debt.*

    So the beneficiaries in this scenario are likely to be the banks and financial industry.

    * - This may be why we hear so much carping about the price of motoring. Essentially folk realise they have been living beyond their means, and they don't like the nasty taste it leaves. They need someone to blame for feeling bad.

    Posted 12 years ago #

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