Fuel Prices set to double!

NervexProf

Fuel prices are set to double; shortly, soon!

Is this good or bad news?

(Meanwhile new figures show that the record fuel price rises are forcing more drivers out of their cars.


Demand for petrol has slumped by as much as 20 per cent over the past 12 months, during which crude oil prices have doubled.


'British motorists are clearly driving less,' said Eduardo Lopez, the International Energy Agency's chief oil analyst. 'They are switching to public transport.' )

Can we look forward to two wheeled traffic jams, or is the price hike threat all razz and dazzle so as to improve the speculators pitch?

Surf-Matt

Means less people piling down here and clogging up the roads and beaches.

It's good - the mild financial hit to ourselves is easily offset by the benefits :twisted:

Bikerbaboon

its bad fuel prices doubble then that means that you will be seeing the transport costs of ALL goods double (fuel is the single largest cost to the uk hulage trade) and thats going to hit us.
people using cars less wont affect the cycleist for years but the increasing cost of food clothing and general living costs will throw the western worlds economy in to a depretion, that we are seeing start now with the credit crunch and falling house prices.

If you do get worries about any of the above go out for a bike ride it makes it all feel better. :P

robmanic1

Matt, trouble is with air fares increassing also, we're all going to be "piling" down your way for our hols as we won't be able to afford to travel overseas. Save me a spot on your line up!

mekonta

I think it's great news. Yes it'll make life a lot harder for everyone as the upped pricing gets reflected in everything else we have to pay for - but fuel prices have been too low for too long and excessive consumption are having massive and catastrophic consequences around the world.

As fuel prices go up there will hopefully be an increased initiative into alternative fuels and they'll become more price competitive with oil quicker as prices keep spiralling.

SmellTheGlove

mekonta wrote:

As fuel prices go up there will hopefully be an increased initiative into alternative fuels ...

Don't start me on this one!
If you're talking about "alternative" fuels that mean the ever expanding human race keeps trying to travel as much as ever, then think again. The only genuine alternative is to find ways to travel (i.e. consume) less, not hope that hydrogen/biomass/batshit has a miracle payoff.

Good or bad news? Marginally bad but inevitable.

"British motorists are clearly driving less" - looking at the jams around N London I'd say Mr Lopez was spot on with that. First and second gears are taking an awful hammering; I don't call that driving.

ChrisLS

...does this mean the 4x4 monsters will soon be extinct...?

saveswalking

So why is fuel going up :?:

sw

vanquished

The only genuine alternative is to find ways to travel (i.e. consume) less

Agree completely with this: that's partly why, when I bought my house back in 2000, one of the main requirements was that it had to be walkable to work. I haven't been out of the country since '97, specifically because of the worry about the impact of recreational travel.

Fuel prices are only going to continue to increase: the world is not an infinite resource, and with places like India and China aspiring to a 'Westernised' lifestyle, the demands on a finite amount of oil (and it's not just the stuff in the ground, it's the capacity to refine it that's critical, too) mean that the price is going to go up.

£2/litre doesn't seem implausible - clearly, though, the petrol stations aren't expecting it just yet - when they all had their signage re-done to accomodate petrol crossing the £1 barrier, most of them installed displays that only allow a '1' as the leading digit ;-)

Surf-Matt

Robmanic1 wrote:

Matt, trouble is with air fares increassing also, we're all going to be "piling" down your way for our hols as we won't be able to afford to travel overseas. Save me a spot on your line up!

But it'll stop weekenders nipping down (I hope) and air fares are still very low. A holiday down here usually costs more than a week or two at a cheap resort anyway!

I think we are simply stuck in a cycle of expecting rising fuel costs so oil companies are having a bit of a mega windfall and rinsing it for all they arew worth.

Yes supplies are limited but they have been for decades.

DavidTQ

saveswalking wrote:

So why is fuel going up :?:

sw

Finance types looking for an investment opportunity when company financial forecasts are looking doubtfull?

I dont buy into the notion that the prices we are seeing are a simple relfection of demand outstripping supply. Demand isnt changeing as rapidly as prices. I think theres more likely trading issues resulting in the rises.

To my (over simplified non-finance industry mind) youve got a product that is already rising in value due to supply \ demand, then the credit crunch hits, affecting all sorts of business's, with a recession under way, weakening employment figures etc etc. The writings on the wall for some stock market losses, making "safe haven" investments attractive and with lots of traders moving in a herd to this nicely rising oil price it heats things up further.

To my mind (bearing in mind Ive never traded in my life ) its a good time to be trading in oil.

always_tyred

Fuel prices going up like this is definitely a bad thing. It will cause rampant inlfation, which will cause interest rates to rise which will cause base rates to rise and make mortgages worse. This will slow housing down even further, causing this market to crash even worse, there will be less retail spending and less longer term investment by a whole host of other industries, and unemployment will rise. A consequence of this is that the government will receive proportionally less tax and have proportionally greater expenditures and so the tax burden will increase.

Its all very well to go on about the environmental benefit, but I really feel short changed in 2008 that, despite the decades of warning, our population still has no viable alternative to petrol. 5 years ago I would happily have paid an extra 50% per mile to run an electric car or a hydrogen car or even a propane car, but its not a practicable proposition because there aren't enough places to refuel.

I suggest that those who cite public transport as an alternative (the costs of which will also rise, by the way) have not had to live outside a city.

neillcp

Always Tyred wrote:

Its all very well to go on about the environmental benefit, but I really feel short changed in 2008 that, despite the decades of warning, our population still has no viable alternative to petrol.

Do you remember John Prescotts transport pledge from, oohh, 10 years ago to reduce congestion? A perfect opportunity to introduce new technologies and invest in public transport. But where did the money go?... Into building new roads! I think we've been really let down by the current government, who don't seem to have the balls to put any long term measures into place.

Also, I know drivers are moaning about the high price of oil, but they seem fairly happy to sit in traffic burning it off whilst going nowhere. On one route I take, there is a level crossing that's sometimes shut for up to 10 mins whilst the various trains go back and forth. Yet almost all of the drivers still sit there with their engines on. I think the price of oil will have to rise even more to alter peoples behaviour significantly.

dirk_van_gently

Good to see most of us have a rudimentary grasp of national and global economics.

Brriiinnng Brriiingg

Alistair Darling on line 3, needs some advise

DavidTQ

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Good to see most of us have a rudimentary grasp of national and global economics.

Brriiinnng Brriiingg

Alistair Darling on line 3, needs some advise

can you get rid of him, Im busy ont he forums, If Ive told him once Ive told him a thousand times if hes going to dye his eyebrows he may as well do his hair as well. In for a penny in for a pound...

zaynan

It's easy, and perhaps selfish, to say that it's good news that fuel prices are rising. However, as someone rightly poined out, higher prices impinge on many things that may not be obvious such as transporting goods, making goods and public transport itself!

I think that people will naturally use their car less if prices are high but we shouldn't hope for a repeat of the 70's when people couldn't work because of fuel shortage/prices - I'm talking about 'key workers' here such as midwifes, nurses etc.

People ought to leave their car behind for reasons other than cost - such as health and 'environmental 'reasons. I'm not in favour of holding guns to people's heads to make them walk, cycle and use public transport.

High oil prices could just prove to be a catalyst to start people thinking about driving a 3 litre car or having 3 foreign holidays a year or driving 2 miles to work. However the person on a tight budget should have alternatives to expensive petrol and it will take more than the current flimsy green policies of all the main parties to sort our transportation system out (and this is effectively a transport issue). Anyone want to stand?!

robmanic1

[But it'll stop weekenders nipping down (I hope) and air fares are still very low. A holiday down here usually costs more than a week or two at a cheap resort anyway!

It's no good trying to talk me out of it, packing while I type!

Bassjunkieuk

That was very well put zaynan - I do have to admit one of my first thought's when I saw this story on the news this morning was "will it mean more people cycle?"
As you point out tho, the rising cost of oil will effect many different industries - some in obvious ways such as haulage and transport and other's indirectly in that their processes become more expensive due to the high oil prices causing a rise in costs.

Hopefully now people are actually beginning to realize and think about how much it cost's to run a car, they will either make the decision to get a more economical car, cut out un-needed journeys and hopefully drive more sensibly to get better economy!
I know most of this is probably wishful thinking but I know myself I have made a concious effort to drive better, and have seen a much better economy on my company car on the rare occasions I need to use it.

Surf-Matt

Robmanic1 wrote:

[But it'll stop weekenders nipping down (I hope) and air fares are still very low. A holiday down here usually costs more than a week or two at a cheap resort anyway!

It's no good trying to talk me out of it, packing while I type!

Good waves at the moment and set to carry on through the weekend.
Head for a very secret spot called Fistral beach for the best waves..., :twisted:

I'm heading in after work.

robmanic1

Fistral eh? Hmmm, wouldn't be giving me a bum steer by any chance, have the place to myself, will I?

Surf-Matt

Fistral is Cornwall's secret secret spot...

Actually Porthtowan or Godrevy should be firing and mucn quieter

robmanic1

Surf-Matt wrote:

Fistral is Cornwall's secret secret spot...

Actually Porthtowan or Godrevy should be firing and mucn quieter

Off to Fuerte in a few weeks with the kite, but fancy a bit of Cornwall maybe for a weekend prior (get back in the groove) 8)

Surf-Matt

I went to Lanzarote in Feb - surf was pretty tasty!

You kitesurf then? Bit too much kit for me but it looks fun.

robmanic1

Yes, about 2 years, windsurf prior to that, much harder to learn windsurfing though! Gave up on surfing, too damn hard!!

Surf-Matt

Surfing is a total ar5e of a sport really.

Easy to get standing but the next "level" takes forever.

Took me two years of living almost on a beach (Polzeath) to get even remotely competent.

16 year later I still surf like a complete tool too often!

A girl I know is a very good kitesurfer - Andreya Wharry.

Belv

DavidTQ wrote:

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Good to see most of us have a rudimentary grasp of national and global economics.

Brriiinnng Brriiingg

Alistair Darling on line 3, needs some advise

can you get rid of him, Im busy ont he forums, If Ive told him once Ive told him a thousand times if hes going to dye his eyebrows he may as well do his hair as well. In for a penny in for a pound...

In his case, perhaps that should read "in debt for a penny, in debt for a pound"? Or maybe he couldn't get the credit for a whole pound?!

robmanic1

A girl I know is a very good kitesurfer - Andreya Wharry.[/quote]

Ah yes, they say she's pretty useful. Former gladiator too 8)

Surf-Matt

Rob - she was a competitor who won UK and European Gladiators.

Seen here completely battered (from booze) and it's a hilarious but slightly scary sight!
We get on pretty well as I'm a fellow fitness nerd (not nearly as much as her though)!

abbots_mike

Slightly simplified view, but i blame the government. If so many other countries can get fuel so much cheaper then why cant we?

dang65

ABBOTS MIKE wrote:

Slightly simplified view, but i blame the government. If so many other countries can get fuel so much cheaper then why cant we?

I might be being naive here, but I think it's just down to where different countries get their taxes. Some countries have lower fuel duty but higher income tax, for example.

Also, the high fuel duty we have in this country will give the government a fair bit of leeway to soften the blow when oil prices really go up, as opposed to just being 'a bit dear', which they are at the moment.

Belv

dang65 wrote:

ABBOTS MIKE wrote:

Slightly simplified view, but i blame the government. If so many other countries can get fuel so much cheaper then why cant we?

I might be being naive here, but I think it's just down to where different countries get their taxes. Some countries have lower fuel duty but higher income tax, for example.

Also, the high fuel duty we have in this country will give the government a fair bit of leeway to soften the blow when oil prices really go up, as opposed to just being 'a bit dear', which they are at the moment.

However a huge and growing budget deficit removes that leeway and some. Not naive... optimistic!