diesel fuel price

[sammmo]

can anyone tell me why there is a 15p per ltr difference in the price of diesel and petrol Im sure diesel used to be cheaper than petrol because its cheaper and greener to refine so why is it dearer?

[debbz1969]

I'm only guessing here but maybe something to do with all HGV's run on diesel and diesel cars are becoming more and more popular and as they are more economical the government is clawing back the extra in taxes. Supply and demand type thing.
You are correct by saying it is cheaper and greener to produce and it was always at least 10p / litre cheaper than petrol.

[kempie]

This article from 2005 makes interesting reading...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/a rticle/2005/08/07/AR2005080700888.html

[nightmare]

to debbz1969,

Go back 20 years or so; diesel was only about two thirds the price of petrol !
It was the increasing popularity of diesel-engined cars, especially the newly available turbocharged ones, in the early nineties that made the government realise how much extra we could be screwed for, so the price increased.
There was a joke going round a while ago, stating that video screens showing porno films were to be installed on all garage forecourts, so motorists could watch someone else being shafted while they were !

[dundurn]

The more people want something whose supply is restricted, the higher the price will be. The UK price for diesel is higher because diesel vehicles have become popular over the whole of Europe. There are also problems with the amount of crude oil available suitable for diesel production and a limited refinery capacity.

[oldhenry]

Although any Government will squeeze you till the pips squeak, one reason is the chemical process involved in distilling crude oil.
This does not happen by some miracle, but by clever chemical process which , I am afraid, does not just produce pure petroleum for our car at 95 octane.
All sorts of other goodies come from the process, plastic, lpg ,heavy oil, light oil. So there is a ratio of oils produced due to chemical process. Now if demand for an oil that is in the process goes up, you cannot make more, not without all the other items, so the price goes up.
Diesel users are 'hoist by their own petard'.
Never buy anything for a 'tax ' reason, as chanellors will kick you in the teeth soon afterward- see lpg and how the tax is going up on that.
( ps, I would leave diesel to dumper trucks, it is not a nice substance with which to run a fast passenger car)