Hi MINI owners!! ;)

Fuel prices are getting ridiculous again, most garages charging over 90p a litre! :mad:

It wont be long before we are paying over £1 a litre now. OK, I understand that oil prices are increasing, but oil companies are also making record profits! And the government aren't doing much to help, only holding any increases, making that look like they're doing us a favour!

As a protest, not buying any fuel is obviously not an option! However, us MINI owners and freinds of could club together and refuse to buy from certain garages??

Has there been any talk of this previously on MINI2.com? I have had e-mails in the past about similar protests.

Could anyone expand on this?

Deano

Yep I agree :mad:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59812&highlight=fuel+protest

Trouble is, it is not the fuel companies that are causing the problem - it is the 80%+ duty that we have to pay to the government thats causing these high prices.

...here in Sweden, a little cheaper thatn UK but not very much.

it is getting out of hand again - I've been hoping for fuel protests to kick off but nothing so far, not even talk of action :confused:

I think when we buy petrol we should refuse to pay the tax portion - would be interesting if it could be co-ordinated such that everyone refused to pay it for a day - the garages would grind to a halt within minutes :D

Trouble is, it is not the fuel companies that are causing the problem - it is the 80%+ duty that we have to pay to the government thats causing these high prices.

:mad: Although certainly not as bad as your fuel prices, we're being gouged over here in California as well. And in our case it's pure profit for the oil companies as our fuel tax (or duty) is quite low compared to yours. Like your side of the pond, no one seems to be able, or willing, to do anything about it. :mad: This despite the fact a video was aired on our news awhile back of a meeting of oil industry leaders admitting they were keeping supplies short to keep the price up. This was shot by a news team with a concealed camera. :mad: :mad: :mad:

One of the guys in our club figured out that you're paying about $8 dollars a gallon for fuel over there. :( You guys have my sincere sympathies. At those prices I don't know how you afford to drive at all :rolleyes:

Just been and filled up at tesco's, its 90.9p a litre now, was 89.9 yesterday.

absolute barstewards!

As much as I would love to join in on the complaining, I hear it is much worse for countries outside the US. So I won't... I just hope we get through this... Yet, I wonder why our governments have waited so long to start researching additional ways to power cars! It has already hit the fan, should we not have been searching before this? Enough whining...

However, us MINI owners and freinds of could club together and refuse to buy from certain garages??

Has there been any talk of this previously on MINI2.com? I have had e-mails in the past about similar protests.

Could anyone expand on this?

Deano


If you boycott any garage then this won't work. If anything you'll bankrupt the independent garage owners and be forced to buy more fuel from the huge supermarket chains that sell crappy petrol.

Why is this?

(1) Well if you boycott Esso and buy from Shell then the same amount of fuel is being purchased. If anything more fuel will be used as people drive further to find Shell garages.

(2) When you buy fuel from your local Esso garage the fuel may not have been transported from the nearest Esso refinery as that could be hundreds of miles away. All the major Fuel companies have reciprocal arrangements to supply the nearest garages to their refinery. The only difference is the additives that may or may not be added to certain brands of fuel. That's why you'll see Shell, BP or Total tankers at Esso Refineries. Therefore if you boycott Esso then demand will rise at Shell garages and the same tankers from the local refinery will divert to supplying Shell garages. The net outcome at the local refinery is the same amount of fuel being supplied to the market.

If you boycott any garage then this won't work. If anything you'll bankrupt the independent garage owners and be forced to buy more fuel from the huge supermarket chains that sell crappy petrol.

Why is this?

(1) Well if you boycott Esso and buy from Shell then the same amount of fuel is being purchased. If anything more fuel will be used as people drive further to find Shell garages.

(2) When you buy fuel from your local Esso garage the fuel may not have been transported from the nearest Esso refinery as that could be hundreds of miles away. All the major Fuel companies have reciprocal arrangements to supply the nearest garages to their refinery. The only difference is the additives that may or may not be added to certain brands of fuel. That's why you'll see Shell, BP or Total tankers at Esso Refineries. Therefore if you boycott Esso then demand will rise at Shell garages and the same tankers from the local refinery will divert to supplying Shell garages. The net outcome at the local refinery is the same amount of fuel being supplied to the market.


Also no matter where or who we buy our fuel from the GOVERNMENT is still getting the same amount of revenue from TAX! It is the ridiculous amount of tax we pay in this country is what gets me most of all.

We should be pressuring the government to cut tax on fuel by at least 30%. We seem to forget that this is our country, we should have a say in how it is run and how we want it funded, just beacuse tony and his gang say something doesnt mean we have to agree or put up with it, thats democracy my friend!!

Fuel is getting expensive, and it's very annoying to watch it get dearer on a weekly basis!

I know the tax level is scanalous over here, but I've said it before - if tax comes off petrol/diesel it's going to have to go on something else. Pure and simple maths.

I paid over $1.30 /L for Ultimate the other day... I know thats nothing like you UK guys are paying, but nonetheless, when you consider I was paying $1.10 or so when I first bought the car just over a year ago, it starts getting scary.

Once again, I cant comment on your situation, but I was listening to an interesting section of the radio the other morning, and the analysts they had on were saying, come crunch time, consumers as a whole still werent complaining enough about the soaring prices of fuel, and as a result, there was no reason on Government or anyones part to try and curb the rises.

Make of that what you will, but I think its going to take a class action - either against a particular fuel company or the Government, to get anything to change...

In the meantime, I'd say its only going to get less and less affordable to run a car. That said - I dont drink, and I dont smoke - so the liquid I pour into my fuel tank every week I consider as my enjoyment. I love the car and the club too much to worry about fuel anymore. So I guess that means I'll be bending over and taking it up the tailpipes whatever they charge. Either that, or I'll close my eyes as I hand my eftpos card over http://www.mini2.com/forum/attachment90336.jpg

Once again, I cant comment on your situation, but I was listening to an interesting section of the radio the other morning, and the analysts they had on were saying, come crunch time, consumers as a whole still werent complaining enough about the soaring prices of fuel, and as a result, there was no reason on Government or anyones part to try and curb the rises.

Quite franky the British are apathetic about complaining. We'll happily whinge but very few people are prepared to instigate any form of direct action. Contrast that to our French neighbours who are prepared to bring things to a standstill.

I think that the UK is fairly unique in that a high proportion of our vehicle parc is comprised of company cars. And a large percentage of these people don't have to pay for the fuel and support garages that charge high prices. These drivers don't see any direct impact on their wallets even though wholesale prices of everyday goods will rise as a result of higher fuel prices.

I seem to remember that Gordon Brown, postponed putting tax on fuel this year to September again year, so they can get their greedy mits on more of our money. And push the price up even more. probably to fund their 80 odd days of summer holiday this year. Oh and the freeloaders that cannot be even bothered to do a days works and claim benefits (Ihave no problem with genuine claimants, just the lazy chav/assylum seeking freeloaders) :mad: :mad: :mad:

I feel for our European comrades who are paying fuel prices that would make me masking tape my number plate and then drive off afer fueling.

While I was in Japan, it was 115 yen then in two days jumped to 128 yen per litre. 128 yen = $4.43 U.S. per gallon or 64.4 UK pence.

When I left the U.S. in mid-July, I was paying $2.49 a gallon (3.79 litres per U.S. gallon) and when I came back three weeks later, it went up to $2.78!!! I almost choked on the way back home from the airport!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: $2.78 = 1.53 UK Pounds = 40.3 pence per litre. (an increase of 4 pence per litre since I left).

Now I know you would dream of 40 pence a litre, but a few summers ago here in Detroit, fuel was 89 cents a gallon! (.49 pence = 12.9 pence a litre) So, by looking at it that way, you can see how the average American also has fuel shock!!! Add to that, most of us have no viable forms of public transport and it all goes down hill from there. Not to mention an oil tycoon as a president...

C'mon GM and BMW, let's go! Get that Hydrogen Project going!!!

ey guys

i was watching tv a while ago & saw this commercial that it took us 100+ years (can't remember the exact #) to use up the first trillion barrels of oil...and that it will take us JUST 30 to use up the next trillion :eek: damn gas guzzling SUVs!!! :D hehehe

Just got back from filling the tank, cost $2.57 a gallon. Still cheap by world standards. :)

Just got back from filling the tank, cost $2.57 a gallon. Still cheap by world standards. :)


If you paid the same prices we pay in UK you would have paid the equivalent of $8.00 a gallon :eek: . Although i think there might be riots in the streets if Americans were ask to pay those kind of prices. More fool us for putting up with these prices in this country :rolleyes: :mad: .

If you paid the same prices we pay in UK you would have paid the equivalent of $8.00 a gallon :eek: . Although i think there might be riots in the streets if Americans were ask to pay those kind of prices. More fool us for putting up with these prices in this country :rolleyes: :mad: .

Yes, I have bought fuel in the UK. ;) Cost me over $50 to fill a Cooper's tank that was half full to begin. :)

An attendant was chatting with me and she said some people have to pay over $100 to fill their tank. :D I think she was fishing for sympathy or outrage, but I replied that was their own stupid fault for buying honking stupid SUVs. :D

Also no matter where or who we buy our fuel from the GOVERNMENT is still getting the same amount of revenue from TAX! It is the ridiculous amount of tax we pay in this country is what gets me most of all.

We should be pressuring the government to cut tax on fuel by at least 30%. We seem to forget that this is our country, we should have a say in how it is run and how we want it funded, just beacuse tony and his gang say something doesnt mean we have to agree or put up with it, thats democracy my friend!!

Where do you suggest the government gets the £24 billion or so (per the 2005 Budget report) that it currently receives in income from fuel duties?

Possible solutions:

Increase income tax by 12p per pound - 20% on the first £1500 or so of taxable income, 32% base rate, 50% higher rate (£2 billion income for the government per penny on income tax, more or less).
Cut defence spending (around £32 billion) by 67%. A convenient time to do so when fighting terrorists.

Alternatively, you could direct your ire at the following:

The general wastefulness of human beings. Do you recycle? Do you buy vegetable produce locally, instead of from a supermarket, where it has to get transported from miles away? We need to cut consumption. We cannot sustain our current lifestyle forever.
Complacent car manufacturers who have failed to come up with viable alternatives to oil-derived fuel. Where's a hybrid that doesn't look like something out of the Jetsons and doesn't cost the same as a 3 series? Why can't I get rapeseed oil or methanol fuel at my local petrol station? Why isn't hydogen a viable alternative yet?
Price gouging by oil company cartels. How much profit do Exxon, Shell et al make per year?
Idiots who drive cars or "trendy" SUVs that do 8mpg or so. Buy a MINI and get 30mpg or more!
Proponents of war in countries that hold fairly large reserves of oil. Not a good idea when it comes to securing supplies of the black stuff. War against Iraq hasn't led to lower fuel prices - completely the opposite. Nice one, George and Tony.

The supply of oil is finite. Oil production peaked in the 1970s (do a Google search for "peak oil"). The world is demanding more oil, led by the booming economies in India and China. Countries where there are oil supplies are largely hostile to the US and the rest of the western world (Iraq, Venezuela) or which are downright unstable (Saudi Arabia). Even if the government were to slash taxes from their current 80% to US levels (30%), general instability in the world and lack of supply will force the price up anyway.

I for one don't understand why people aren't screaming about the huge run-up in gas prices here in the States, even though prices are low compared to elsewhere.
Let's see who's in power; hmmm. George Bush of Houston, TX - former oil company exec at Harken Oil (ran that into the ground until the Saudi's bailed him out). **** Cheney, former head of Halliburton - big oil exploration supply company, besides having some fairly lucrative contacts to administer Bush's folly in the desert. (That lying sack of poop) Many other cozy friends from the biz. We are using aboout 2/3's of our oil from the import market (which the multi-nationals are making great profit on), but what about the 1/3 that comes domestically? If they were quite happy selling it at $25 a barrel, what are they doing now that the market price is $66 !!?? Think they're happy with their buddy GWB? What sense of urgency do they have to increase refining capacity? They're happy as pigs in oil right now - it is we on the other end otf the hose that are taking up the rear!
Where is the outrage? It just amazes me to still see people driving around with Bush/Cheney and W04 stickers, most often on SUV's. I'm sorry, but the whole thing makes me want to puke.

The Tax on fuel is a percentage of the basic price therefore as the base cost goes up then the Government revenue goes up. A "Tony-by-the-back-door-tax".

Why would the Gov stop a windfall of tax income. Tax revenue with no political backlash = heaven.


:redblack:

Jumped another $0.20 since two days ago here *grumble grumble* :mad:

Well, I paid $4.75 a gallon for fuel yesterday. :(

After filling my MINI, I went home and got the Jeep and my collection of diesel fuel cans. Went to a station that was still fairly cheap, $2.39 for regular, $2.37 for diesel. I had not used this particular station before. :eek:

Pulled up to the pump and filled the Jeep, no problem. Sat the diesel tanks on the ground in front of what I thought was the diesel pump and started filling them. Filled two and was working on the third when I noticed the price said over $60! :eek: Then I noticed that what I thought was a diesel pump was actually a CAM-2 pump, high octane leaded racing fuel. :eek: Damn!

So I went to Home Depot, got some more diesel gas cans, and went back to get my diesel. I need diesel for the generator, a necessity during hurricane season. The lawn mower and leaf blower run well on racing fuel. :( Actually, Fuzzy says the leaf blower is outstanding on racing fuel. :D

I for one don't understand why people aren't screaming about the huge run-up in gas prices here in the States, even though prices are low compared to elsewhere.
Let's see who's in power; hmmm. George Bush of Houston, TX - former oil company exec at Harken Oil (ran that into the ground until the Saudi's bailed him out). **** Cheney, former head of Halliburton - big oil exploration supply company, besides having some fairly lucrative contacts to administer Bush's folly in the desert. (That lying sack of poop) Many other cozy friends from the biz. We are using aboout 2/3's of our oil from the import market (which the multi-nationals are making great profit on), but what about the 1/3 that comes domestically? If they were quite happy selling it at $25 a barrel, what are they doing now that the market price is $66 !!?? Think they're happy with their buddy GWB? What sense of urgency do they have to increase refining capacity? They're happy as pigs in oil right now - it is we on the other end otf the hose that are taking up the rear!
Where is the outrage? It just amazes me to still see people driving around with Bush/Cheney and W04 stickers, most often on SUV's. I'm sorry, but the whole thing makes me want to puke.


Hahahaha...dare I say this leads back to my infamous quote of a few months back that only the top 10% elite of America run it? :eek: :( Or will I get flamed again? :confused:

I came back from florida the other day and they had record oil prices for like days in a row. I saw some americans on CNN complaining about their fuel prices and it makes me sick! We pay nearly 3 times the amount they do. And most of them are driving SUVs and trucks with six wheels and no passengers! Why!? We live the same lifestyle as the americans but there are very few huge SUVs and trucks over here. They can't complain about a problem they are partly causing. No offence to any americans btw :p

To my mind rising fuel prices are a world-wide problem.
There seems to be hardly any country unaffected by rising fuel prices.

Just be thankful you do not live in Zimbabwe where a litre of petrol is about half a million dollars (local currency) if you can get it, thanks to Mugabee.

From my observations crude prices are really not that high. How much does a barrell hold?
Somewhere around 44 imperial gallons which is roughly 200litres? And that costs (currently) US$66. Work it out....200 litres divided by 66 dollars eauals about 33 cents US a litre.
Admitedly there is transport and refining costs and currency conversions, but these are done in "bulk" and spread across what a refinery might produce in a continued operation of import, refine and transport to retail operators, and per litre add minimally
So where is the bulk of the cost incurred?
By our respective governments in taxes on motorists! Taxes for building roads, taxes for road maintenance, taxes for hospitals, (road accidents) taxes for the registration of cars, trucks, trailers, motorbikes, takes for car inspection and road safety agencies ad infinitum not to mention the non auto-related and social welfare programmes thety siphon fuel tax into.
To governments, fuel taxes are are one of the easiest wyas of collecting large amounts of tax dollars across a broad rannge of consumers. Governments around the world could easily bring down the price of fuel with a simple stroke of the pen.
But why would they - it's how they fund all the other areas they have to.

Sorry if I am sounding cynical but when was the last time you saw a politician paying for his own gas? You and me the taxpayer pay for his government Car and what keeps it moving!!

One minor correction:

One 42gal gallon barrel of crude oil yields:

19.5 gallons of gasoline
9.2 gallons of distillate fuel oil (diesel fuel and home-heating oil)
4.1 gallons of kerosene-type jet fuel
2.3 gallons of residual fuel oil (used in industry and marine transportation and for election power generation)
1.9 gallons liquefied refinery gases
1.9 gallons still gas
1.8 gallons coke
1.3 gallons asphalt and road oil
1.2 gallons petrochemical feedstock
0.5 gallons lubricants
0.2 gallons kerosene
0.3 gallons other (don't ask me, I have no clue :) )

* The total volume of products made is 2.2 gallons greater than the original 42 gallons of crude oil, representing a processing gain.

99.9p per litre of Esso Supreme today at Cherwell Valley services on M40 :rolleyes:

DK ;) :apple:

:black: :black:
:o :o :mad: :mad:
Don"t think fuel prices are getting ridiculous they already are :eek: :( :(