Cost of Diesel Fuel

[Geoff Spink]

After the govenment convinced me to buy diesel to be more green, can anyone tell me why diesel is now 6p a litre more than unleaded (that's at Tesco) In fact it now costs more than Super unleaded.

[Opelguy]

Since all of Europe decided to buy diesel cars the consumption have gone up and we're now importing diesel from the USA and Russia, which have to be purified to meet European regulations. This have resulted in a lack of refining capacity which I'm told is what's pushed the price upwards. Of course it may just be down to greedy oil companies looking to make a buck.

Diesel is more than petrol here as well, which is a truly unique scenario that never happened before.

[Jack The Lad.]

I had a moan about the cost of diesel, on here a while back.
When I bought my Civic on 01/09/07, the difference was 2 or 3p.
Down my way, its a min' of 8p now.

[gray52]

ive just filled up with bp ultimate at £118.9p, even sainsburys round my way are charging £112.9p for there crap and tesco must be the same. yes i to have noticed 7-8p differencr between petrol & diesel. i think it will soon be time to make our own from the old chip pan stuff. add all this to the budget we are well and trully being ripped off big time!!!

[sambuca2907]

We could all start using red diesel.... lol
50p a litre!

[Opelguy]

Or vegetable oil.

[civicfan]

Originally Posted by Opelguy

Or vegetable oil.

In some countries taxi drivers mix veg oil with regular diesel in summer, as long as they drive 15 year old cars (and don't get caught) it's OK. Some even say you can mix WATER(!) with diesel and veg oil adding a little detergent - but I would not try any of these with a modern engine (nor with a modern taxman )

[GHGH]

Or vegetable oil and a dash ethanol (5%?).
Anyway the veg oil will become very expensive very quickly if everybody tries this at home.

[sambuca2907]

Anyway - about the price of diesel - and not just the difference between petrol and diesel... If the tax in the "Budget" goes up by about 2p a year... why does the fuel go up by 1p a week!!! This is just getting silly... we'll be paying £1.50 a litre by next year...

[LNT]

Originally Posted by sambuca2907

We could all start using red diesel.... lol
50p a litre!

Joking apart, if you did and got caught, you'd be absolutely hammered. The red stays in the tank for god knows how long, and even if you'd done it just once and used normal diesel afterwards, any minute trace would be evident and you'd be knackered if you were checked, which seems to happen more and more nowadays.

[sambuca2907]

Originally Posted by LNT

Joking apart, if you did and got caught, you'd be absolutely hammered. The red stays in the tank for god knows how long, and even if you'd done it just once and used normal diesel afterwards, any minute trace would be evident and you'd be knackered if you were checked, which seems to happen more and more nowadays.

Oh I know the police would rape you if you got caught!

But then again - they're more likely to check 4x4's at farm shows than Civic's in shopping centre car parks! lol

[Nemesis]

Customs & Excise regularly dip in the North-east checking for Red fuel (must be all these tight Northerners! ) You'll get your car crushed if they catch you!

[Opelguy]

Originally Posted by civicfan

In some countries taxi drivers mix veg oil with regular diesel in summer, as long as they drive 15 year old cars (and don't get caught) it's OK. Some even say you can mix WATER(!) with diesel and veg oil adding a little detergent - but I would not try any of these with a modern engine (nor with a modern taxman )

Water is not a good idea as it does not compress and even small amounts will wreak havoc on a commonrail diesel. Might be OK in older engines with lower preassure.

[bucketp]

Taken from yesterdays Daily Mail


The cost of diesel has soared to a record high and wiped out fuel efficiency savings, motoring leaders warned yesterday.

Once the cheaper alternative to petrol, it is now far more expensive.
Figures show diesel is selling at an average £5.20 a gallon (114.25p per litre), compared with unleaded at £4.85 a gallon (106.76p per litre).
While a boom in diesel cars has exacerbated demand for the fuel, refineries have failed to keep pace with producing it.
The AA warns that diesel cars now represent a "false economy" for low-mileage drivers.
A diesel car costs on average£1,400 more to buy than its petrol equivalent.
At the start of this year to break even with an unleaded vehicle, a diesel car had to travel 45,000 miles before the benefits of its greater fuel efficiency took effect.
Today, that same car must cover 46,243 miles - an increase of 1,243 miles.
This is because the price gap between diesel and petrol has widened further since January 1 - from 5.1p to 7.49p per litre.
An AA report found that the average fuel efficiency of eight best- selling UK diesels was 53.95 miles to the gallon - compared to 39.95mpg for the equivalent petrol cars.
For many years until the mid-1990s, diesel not only ran on more miles to the gallon but was also cheaper at the pumps.
It fell out of favour when it was dubbed "dirty diesel" and blamed for pollution and chest complaints.
However, the fuel is now clean thanks to a generation of cars fitted with filters which trap and burn off harmful particles.
Diesel and petrol were last at the same price in June 2007 at 97p per litre.
Huge worldwide demand coupled with a shortage of diesel refineries mean the prices have overtaken petrol.
More than four out of ten new cars sold - nearly a million a year - are now diesels. That compares with just one in seven in 1999.
The jump in demand for diesel cars has been fuelled largely by the Government's road tax policy.
The AA has called on the Government to cut the tax on diesel which also emits less CO2.
The same level of duty is levied on both fuels. Hauliers have complained that diesel is far cheaper on the Continent because they pay less tax.
They say that many governments there levy less duty because they recognise the "green" benefits of using diesel over unleaded petrol.
AA president Edmund King said: "The dash for diesel continues in the UK, with motorists trying to reduce their fuel costs with the added benefit of reduced CO2 emissions.
"But diesel is more expensive than petrol and the differential is growing. So buying a diesel is not an automatic switch to cut-price motoring - particularly at current prices."
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says the introduction of cleaner diesel cars has been the biggest driving factor in reducing CO2 emissions - and urged ministers to cut the tax on diesel to encourage greater take-up.
The Freight Transport Association said the soaring price of diesel meant that transport industry costs are rising at an annual rate of 8.4 per cent for a 40-ton lorry, stoking up inflation for consumers.


It seems that the oil burners are not now as economical as they once were! Thank goodness I bought a petrol

[Sandozer]

Originally Posted by bucketp

Taken from yesterdays Daily Mail


The cost of diesel has soared to a record high and wiped out fuel efficiency savings, motoring leaders warned yesterday.

Once the cheaper alternative to petrol, it is now far more expensive.
Figures show diesel is selling at an average £5.20 a gallon (114.25p per litre), compared with unleaded at £4.85 a gallon (106.76p per litre).
While a boom in diesel cars has exacerbated demand for the fuel, refineries have failed to keep pace with producing it.
The AA warns that diesel cars now represent a "false economy" for low-mileage drivers.
A diesel car costs on average£1,400 more to buy than its petrol equivalent.
At the start of this year to break even with an unleaded vehicle, a diesel car had to travel 45,000 miles before the benefits of its greater fuel efficiency took effect.
Today, that same car must cover 46,243 miles - an increase of 1,243 miles.
This is because the price gap between diesel and petrol has widened further since January 1 - from 5.1p to 7.49p per litre.
An AA report found that the average fuel efficiency of eight best- selling UK diesels was 53.95 miles to the gallon - compared to 39.95mpg for the equivalent petrol cars.
For many years until the mid-1990s, diesel not only ran on more miles to the gallon but was also cheaper at the pumps.
It fell out of favour when it was dubbed "dirty diesel" and blamed for pollution and chest complaints.
However, the fuel is now clean thanks to a generation of cars fitted with filters which trap and burn off harmful particles.
Diesel and petrol were last at the same price in June 2007 at 97p per litre.
Huge worldwide demand coupled with a shortage of diesel refineries mean the prices have overtaken petrol.
More than four out of ten new cars sold - nearly a million a year - are now diesels. That compares with just one in seven in 1999.
The jump in demand for diesel cars has been fuelled largely by the Government's road tax policy.
The AA has called on the Government to cut the tax on diesel which also emits less CO2.
The same level of duty is levied on both fuels. Hauliers have complained that diesel is far cheaper on the Continent because they pay less tax.
They say that many governments there levy less duty because they recognise the "green" benefits of using diesel over unleaded petrol.
AA president Edmund King said: "The dash for diesel continues in the UK, with motorists trying to reduce their fuel costs with the added benefit of reduced CO2 emissions.
"But diesel is more expensive than petrol and the differential is growing. So buying a diesel is not an automatic switch to cut-price motoring - particularly at current prices."
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says the introduction of cleaner diesel cars has been the biggest driving factor in reducing CO2 emissions - and urged ministers to cut the tax on diesel to encourage greater take-up.
The Freight Transport Association said the soaring price of diesel meant that transport industry costs are rising at an annual rate of 8.4 per cent for a 40-ton lorry, stoking up inflation for consumers.


It seems that the oil burners are not now as economical as they once were! Thank goodness I bought a petrol

Message from the dark side...

Some very basic arithmetic will show that an average of diesel mileage at 53.95MPG versus 39.95MPG for petrol, will show diesel is still way ahead for being cheaper, or did I go the wrong school..?...

[civicfan]

Originally Posted by bucketp

... While a boom in diesel cars has exacerbated demand for the fuel, refineries have failed to keep pace with producing it.
The AA warns that diesel cars now represent a "false economy" for low-mileage drivers...
... Thank goodness I bought a petrol

Well I guess it depends - if you drive your car for a few years - say until you have done 200.000 km - this is a "milkmaid calculation" because the countless litres burned (and saved) add up to a substantial amount anyway. That's why we hardly see petrol trucks. Another catch: if everybody will now start buying petrol cars, where will diesel demand/prices go? Yes, down The thing that really spoils the diesel savings is unfair tax policy. I'm glad my leasing contract expires end 2009 so I have time to decide what's next. For today, I would say it's a matter of personal preference what you buy - you get ripped off anyway

[smurf79]

When someone suggested we use vegetable oil or this "bio-diesel", sadly we can't use it in the civic. bio diesel can only be used in older engine not common rail modern ones

[gray52]

So We Need To Sell Our 2.2 Civics And Buy A 1.8 Diesel Escort Thats About 10 Years Old. Its Tempting, But I Think I Will Stick To My Civic.

[Dimplyred]

I've been to fill up this morning at my local Shell garage, and diesel was 14p a litre more than petrol!!!!

[FWH]

Originally Posted by gray52

So We Need To Sell Our 2.2 Civics And Buy A 1.8 Diesel Escort Thats About 10 Years Old. Its Tempting, But I Think I Will Stick To My Civic.

Please don´t use the word "tempting" and "Esc*rt" in the same sentance. I just ate.