Just an observation.

[carrust]

Has anyone else noticed that during all this MP's expenses row, the oil companies have sneaked the price of petrol up to near the �1--0/lt mark. Has the price of crude oil gone up? Or am I being a bit too cynical?

[buildersmate]

No, you are being cynical.
The price of my heating oil has gone down over the last 6 months. Someone must be trying to claw back a profit margin gently, hoping we won't notice.

[Gromit]

Crude oil has indeed gone up. It has doubled. In December the price per barrel was $32 and today it is $67.

There are fears that high oil prices could hamper the recovery out of recession.

http://www.reuters.com/article/GlobalEnergy09/ idUSTRE55243X20090603

[LazyGun]

Hmm... all the reading I have done would suggest that the price of crude oil is rising again - its been on a rollercoaster from the highs of around $150/barrel last year to a low of $30/ barrel about 5 months ago.

Since then it has increased to around $60-$65/ barrel, and is projected to go higher, based upon OPEC keeping to their existing output targets, and various investors and speculators essentially betting that the global economy has reached the bottom and is going to come roaring back.

The consequence of all this is petrol prices such as unleaded gradually sneaking back up to around �1 / litre from lows earlier this year of �0.88/Litre just a few months ago.

[buildersmate]

I don't doubt you are right about that, G.
But it doesn't square with domestic heating oil which was 39.8p last December and is 32.6p today.

[Gromit]

buildersmate

Possibly your heating oil supplies are bought in advance by your provider, so the oil you are using now was negotiated at the cheap price. Likewise, when the price goes down, it takes several months for the price on your bill to drop.

[jno]

nobody seems quite sure why this is happening; one suggestion is that the Chinese are buying more as their industrialisation continues. I think their demand was the main reason prices got to �1 in the first place. But yes, the papers seem too concerned with MPs' tampon claims to have noticed

[Richard1966]

I heard recently from someone in the petrol industry that a lot of oil was bought relatively some time ago and that as this is running out the companies are having to buy at higher prices. Expect petrol and apparently especially diesel to go up quite a bit in the next few weeks.

[Whickerman]

It's gone up here in Ireland too -- not just a UK thing