Fuel Prices Feedback

You cant blame KRUDD for not responding, he is never in the country!! Michael

Derek,
I agree with you. I too have sent emails to the ACCC regarding lpg prices (wholesale) which in November fell by 40% and then by 30% in december yet we only see a small reflection at the pump. It all comes down to greed and that is why the world is in the state it's in. Remember when the minister for fuel (cant remember his name) was quoted saying for every $1 in a barrel of oil eequated to 1cent at the pump..going by that ULP should be about 50cents, diesel a little more and LPG about 20cpl.

it's all greed.nothing rldr.

Rob

125cents at Milperra BP, South West Sydney today, thats reasonable i reckon. considering the cheapest ethanol blend of petrol was 109cents. Michael

Fellars, I suggest you all subscribe to WA's Fuel Watch as I do. I get the diesel prices for the Derby/Kununurra area as it represents on the West Coast my East Coast latitude. The comparison is mind-boggling. Once you are a subscriber you can access any area of WA.Perth prices are always higher than East coast,. and BP prices usually top those. To counteract BP's top-up margin, I use a Citibank BP Master Card which gives me a 5% discount on fuel at a BP outlet, and if you pay the full account each month there is no interest.
But start bitching to the pollies, and lay it on thick. Please....

Diesel Price ULP at Tapis Price AUD/US
at pump Pump $10
May-03 $0.8570 $0.2960 $0.6468
Jan-07 $1.247 $1.152 $0.5351 $0.782835
Feb-07 $1.228 $1.149 $0.5782 $0.783160
Mar-07 $1.246 $1.225 $0.6472 $0.793168
Apr-07 $1.277 $1.248 $0.6880 $0.827235
May-07 $1.295 $1.302 $0.6924 $0.825140
Jun-07 $1.308 $1.299 $0.6848 $0.842348
Jul-07 $1.308 $1.267 $0.7839 $0.867046
Aug-07 $1.315 $1.227 $0.7284 $0.829078
Sep-07 $1.351 $1.238 $0.7908 $0.846084
Oct-07 $1.364 $1.243 $0.8698 $0.899565
Nov-07 $1.423 $1.305 $0.9509 $0.896960
Dec-07 $1.498 $1.371 $0.9584 $0.871810
Jan-08 $1.508 $1.386 $0.9134 $0.881856
Feb-08 $1.467 $1.361 $0.9856 $0.912951
Mar-08 $1.543 $1.397 $1.0237 $0.922114
Apr-08 $1.643 $1.431 $1.1347 $0.930909
May-08 $1.722 $1.495 $1.3361 $0.949750
Jun-08 $1.752 $1.522 $1.3815 $0.951120
Jul-08 $1.715 $1.475 $1.3442 $0.961904
Aug-08 $1.577 $1.444 $1.1921 $0.881739
Sep-08 $1.546 $1.379 $1.0288 $0.818619
Oct-08 $1.436 $1.319 $0.6635 $0.709783
Nov-08 $1.310 $1.012 $0.5698 $0.659310
Dec-08 $1.262 $0.991 $0.4656 $0.654220

Here is some info i have collated on price history so you can have proof on what is being done to us !!

Sorry, having problems following your columns.

Date / diesel price $A / ULP $A / Tapis crude $US/ $AUD-US rate/ ??

So to get a proper comparison, by converting the $A diesel price to $US at the exchange rate nominated, then taking into account the price of crude, we should have a bench mark to compare date to date.

By my calculations, we are better off now than in Jan 07, since the exchange rate is down 16.5%, and crude price is down 13%, and diesel price is only up 1.2%?? So we are 2.3% percent ahead (better off) compared to Jan 07.

Some one check my figures. That add up.

Hi Derek

Your assertion that the Singapore benchmark is not used for diesel pricing in Australia is incorrect – it is!

The financial market crisis, whilst bred out of greed, is a different situation to the pricing of petroleum products or for that matter any commodity.

You either have a system where governments subsidise commodities, whether it be oil, wheat, iron ore or the like. Or you let market forces determine the price based on supply and demand.

Susbsidies simply mean that the taxpayer foots the bill given that governments can only raise revenue from their constituents. Asian governments have largely ceased this practice on petroleum products because of the high cost of doing so, especially in recent times when the price moved higher.

The other issue associated with regulating commodity prices is that it suppresses the supply/demand equation. The higher oil price saw a couple of things happen, demand was modified, alternative energy sources became via viable, and extra supply was created to take advantage of the higher price. These factors all contributed to the price subsequently falling.

None of this would occur unless you had commodities freely traded on world markets.

Something that is largely forgotten in the price debate that surrounds fuel is that oil companies or refiners do not set the price – the market does. And with the emergence of China and India as major economic power-houses means that the demand for energy (including oil) has gone to a new level that we have not witnessed before. This is something the world will need to deal with.

The reality that needs to be accepted is that ULP is in far greater demand at the retail level in Australia versus diesel. Therefore you do not get the same level of discounting. The interesting development that is evident when reading many of the fuel threads in EO is that many people are now coming to a conclusion that petrol vehicles have become more attractive, taking a number of factors into account, versus diesel. A process driven by the higher cost of diesel and the spread that is now evident versus ULP. This is a market force at work……

On government action (or inaction) what do you propose they do?

Cheers