If diesel is heavier and therfore costs less to refine how come diesel prices have gone up 23% and petrol only 19% ish. Surely the crude price is the same so how come the big difference?
It's because more people in the western world are , or use to be on diesel, it was the cheap fuel and the less cost to produce. But now the price of oil $135 a barrell and what once was cheap as rocked up the scale to a stupid £1. 24 per litre diesel prices are going to put many firms out of business. But are going to put the price of a new diesel car in most peoples price bracket.
Eh? Didnt really understand that much Diesel should be cheaper to produce as per original question - the duty on Diesel is the same as on unleaded petrol - so why is it 10p to 15p more expensive to buy. I dont know the answer but yours didnt help much.
Reason is There has been a big switch to diesel cars in recent years (higher mpg etc.) especially in Europe. There hasn't been the needed increase in the number of refineries producing diesel (different engineering needed for each type of fuel). As a result of this diesel is in even more short supply than petrol and so is more expensive. Wasn't so much a problem until China and India started using so much of the rest of the world's refining capacity. The price of oil hasn't got much to do with supply by the way. It wouldn't help that much for the Oil producers to release vastly more oil on to the market. Most of the recent increase is pure speculation by traders. Or something like that!
Supply and demand mate, Most cars run on petrol.... but more and more people are switching to diesel because of the increased MPG and lower road tax etc. So the demand increases, but if the oil giants dont produce more, the demand outstrips supply allowing them to increase the price at the pump, and we will still pay whatever cos we cant cope without it!!!
The difference is more people want diesel nowadays, Pretty much all the cars in china are diesel run and supply cannot keep up with demand so the price is pushed much higher. You remember how petrol used to be much more expensive than diesel it was because more people wanted it so the Barsteward petrol company’s charge more for it It has nothing to do with refinement just petrol companies wanting to make more money
When I came over to the UK on holiday from France in 1979, DERV as Diesel was then known, was more expensive than any grade of petrol. Diesel in France was 66 percent of the cost of Super.
Summat to do with the fact that we can refine quite a lot of petrol.... in this country but not enough diesel. So apparently we're having to import diesel.... thus more expensive.
That's a crying shame for the oil companies bet they are regretting the lack of refining capacity, its making their profits go through the roof.
