diesel now ú1.25 per litre

[TonySharon]

Went for a drive today and came upon a petrol station in leicestershire. The cost of diesel was £1.25 per litre. this garage has always been expensive.

when will somebody do something about the hike in fuel prices across the uk?

Or have we just got sit down and do as we are told as always ?

we should do it how the french do things,

or may be this goverment might actually step in.

 

[Mikey1]

Why would the government want to step in? they have made an extra

 

[Tram]

Why is diesel so much more expensive than petrol these days?

 

[RogerL]

Tram, it's supply and demand - more and more people buying diesel cars and using them for high mileages.

Refineries can't switch from petrol to diesel production, that has to be designed in when the refinery is built. In any case, there's limits how much diesel can be obtained from a barrel of crude.

I'm hoping the the mass switch from petrol to diesel will leave a petrol glut, bringing the price of unleaded down - I won't be holding my breath, though.

 

[Lutz]

Maybe it's also due to the heavy demand for diesel on the Continent where, due to differences in fuel tax on petrol and diesel, diesel is often a good deal cheaper. If production of diesel is having to be diverted to the Continent to meet this demand, this could account for the higher price in the UK.

 

[KeithJ]

It has always been more in the winter (at least in the UK) because of demand in America where they use it for heating ....so the story goes!

....but it's nearly summer now!

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Keith,

No one deliberately uses road diesel for household or industrial heating, normal heating fuel is either kerosene (Esso Blue paraffin of old) or gas oil #1 for household use, or gas oil #3 for heavy industrial use.

There are two peak consumption periods for crude oil - obviously one is the American and European winter, and the other during the summer (vacation driving in the USA and Europe, air-conditioning in the USA, and winter fuel use in the Southern hemisphere).

Part of the problem is that you can't take a barrel of crude oil and just make diesel. The refinery will typically (and very approximately) refine a barrel of oil into:

10% LPG - very much depends on the nature of the crude oil

25% naphtha (petrol)

13% kerosene

13% diesel

10% heavy gas oil

20% lubricating oil

10% residue (road tar)

Today the refinery can crack excess heavy gas oil and lube oil fractions into additional naphtha - and boost petrol production from 25% to nearly 50%

But today the same can't be done for diesel - the first GTL refinery in Qatar which will make extra, high quality diesel, from other parts of crude oil is still being commissioned.

So diesel production is limited to how much crude oil is processed, and if a refinery is already running at 100% capacity - then you could import from somewhere else (at a higher price - shipping) or let price reduce demand.

Robert