Fuel costs.

[Finless]

And I got an email or two wanting to know if I was lonely or wanted my penis enlarging. I can answer with a yes and a no and I'll let you figure out which answer goes with which question.

I have several ideas to remedy global warming:-

1. As mentioned (but completely ignored) before; if everyone in the world who owns a fridge/freezer left the door/lid open for a week then surely the temperature would drop?

2. If I recollect a Jeremy Clarkson program about aeroplanes correctly; the average temperature around the world dropped by 2 degrees C after the world's passenger planes were grounded post 9/11? Well?

3. Connect every cow's arse to to a pipe and use the methane to fuel our current coal run powerstations.

4. Make love more slowly and generate less heat.

5. Wrap the atmosphere in Venetian Blinds.

[NotDeadYet]

i got an email the other day outlining a plan to avoid all bp stations until they drop there prices as bp are known to be 1 of the leaders in putting prices up so therefore if everyone avoids them they will have to reduce prices and then the other should follow suit so don't buy petrol from bp until the price drops below 99p
rob

Which means buying fuel elsewhere which means that everyone else will be rubbing their hands...

The franchise owners might notice it but BP wouldn't even miss a beat.

Better off refusing to pay your taxes this year.

[Fiji Dave]

Which means buying fuel elsewhere which means that everyone else will be rubbing their hands...

The franchise owners might notice it but BP wouldn't even miss a beat.

Better off refusing to pay your taxes this year.

Yep, that email has been going round for years and years - if it's the same one that I see regularly appearing in my Trash mailbox - the one where it actually refers to Esso and BP (they merged years ago).

People could try a little protest like that if they want, but what do you think one days boycott of BP petrol stations in the UK would do to BP's profits? They made $17.2billion profit last year - and that was after a rather difficult year for them. A days boycott wouldn't make a difference.

I doubt very much the govt will do anything to reduce the cost significantly. Ok, they may delay any future duty rises. They may at the absolute extreme, reduce it by a couple of pence. But to you and me, the average user, what's that going to do? Very little. (Please note I said "average user" - obviously if you drive 50k miles a yr then even small changes make a big difference)

BP actually had a hard year last year - it probably slipped most peoples attentions but in Feb of this yr they laid off 5000 people to try to cut costs as their profits were not as high as was expected - so it's unlikely that they'll be reducing their prices and thus cutting profits further.

How will we get cheaper fuel? When oil prices drop - but..... Oil is now $137 a barrel, Unleaded is 120p. In 2000 Oil was $15 a barrel and unleaded was 75p. Oil ISN'T going to drop to those prices again, not in the economic/political climate we're in right now, so I doubt very much you're going to see petrol prices anywhere near 75p again.

The oil industry is very much a boom/bust industry, it runs in cycles, they won't cut prices and reduce profits when the goings good - they'll store up what they can, make as much as they can until the next downturn - common business sense dictates.

I'd also say that to explore for the oil, set up a rig in often extrememly inhospitable environments, drill down through miles of rock, get it out of the ground, ship it to a refinery, refine it to the required grade, store it, ship it to the petrol station and pump it into your car... 120p a litre isn't actually that expensive...!

[chrisch]

....

How will we get cheaper fuel? When oil prices drop - but..... Oil is now $137 a barrel, Unleaded is 120p. In 2000 Oil was $15 a barrel and unleaded was 75p. Oil ISN'T going to drop to those prices again, not in the economic/political climate we're in right now, so I doubt very much you're going to see petrol prices anywhere near 75p again.
..

You are correct. Fuel is never going to be cheap ever. One recent estimate suggests £2.00 a litre for 2009 (and it is a real possibility).

I met with Total (the oil folk) in Brussels on Wednesday and they don't see oil dropping below $100 a barrel. And at the risk of pissing people off I repeat again its a good thing and fuel prices need to go up far more so people drive far less.

Judging by all the people who sit in their car with the engine running waiting to pick someone up outside the train station every night that I walk home fuel price is just something people moan about not actually do anything about.

Chris

[Finless]

You are correct. Fuel is never going to be cheap ever. One recent estimate suggests £2.00 a litre for 2009 (and it is a real possibility).

I met with Total (the oil folk) in Brussels on Wednesday and they don't see oil dropping below $100 a barrel. And at the risk of pissing people off I repeat again its a good thing and fuel prices need to go up far more so people drive far less.

Judging by all the people who sit in their car with the engine running waiting to pick someone up outside the train station every night that I walk home fuel price is just something people moan about not actually do anything about.

Chris

Like the fly on urinal you have just pissed me off. I'm going to sulk in the bath.

[David Pye]

I met with Total (the oil folk) in Brussels on Wednesday and they don't see oil dropping below $100 a barrel. And at the risk of pissing people off I repeat again its a good thing and fuel prices need to go up far more so people drive far less.

I do, to some extent agree with the sentiments behind your statement, but I can't help feeling that you feel that way because you can afford to do the driving you need/want to do regardless of the fuel price (obviously, within limits...)

It's all very well saying that people should do a bit more exercise etc or use public transport, but it's already been mentioned that this is no good at all for people in rural areas. Not to mention of course, the effects like increased food prices etc for those who can least afford it. I think it all depends on where you sit on the income scale as to how you feel the pain.

I don't worry too much about the price of a loaf of bread - if it doubles, big deal, it still won't destroy my finances. However, the cost of my weekly commute around Durham to hospitals and rural GP surgeries doubling will hit me much harder and mean I have to cut down on something else. For some of us, perhaps the rise in fuel prices means just making do with two cars and no boat


David

[chrisch]

....
It's all very well saying that people should do a bit more exercise etc or use public transport, but it's already been mentioned that this is no good at all for people in rural areas. Not to mention of course, the effects like increased food prices etc for those who can least afford it. I think it all depends on where you sit on the income scale as to how you feel the pain.
...

Of course that's true. I agree totally. For poor people in some dust bowl like Somalia it means less aid, less food and for many, death. For me it means keeping my old motorbike and not buying a new one.

That is the way of life. It is unfair and always will be. I don't like that any more than anyone else and wish people were not such selfish arseholes. The problem is for the world's poor to have a decent (relatively) standard of living we must accept a massive fall in the standard of ours. Even within the EU this is true.

Here in the UK the difference in incomes has widened under the current government even further than it did under the bastard Tories. For the bottom two deciles life is already hard. I'm really sorry but I don't know what to do about that. Voting Tory is not going to change it - they are historically the problem and Cameron's lies about caring about people are as risible as they are transparent. Do the lib dems stand a chance? I doubt it.

Yes, there is some real pain to come. No it will not be shared equally. Making it cheaper to kill our species will not change any of that.

Chris