Price of diesel set to increase
The Retail Motor Industry Federation forecasts higher wholesale prices will be passed on at the pumps very soon.
A motoring industry body is warning that the cost of diesel is set to rocket in the next few weeks due to high wholesale costs.
The Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) has been monitoring the wholesale price of both diesel and petrol over the Christmas and New Year period. It says that diesel increased by 4.5p per litre and unleaded petrol by up to 5p per litre.
The RMI says this could push the cost of diesel at the pumps over last May’s record high of 143p per litre and possibly as high as 145p per litre.
It says that the Christmas break meant that retailers haven’t had time to factor in the increases at the pump yet but they are likely to from this weekend.
The RMI says prices are rising due to growing tensions between Iran and the West, a freeze in production at four refineries and companies holding low stock due to cash flow problems.
The average price of petrol had fallen to its lowest level for nine months by mid-December, according to the AA. But diesel prices were creeping up for most of 2011
So, despite the Government scrapping the fuel duty rise planned for January, it looks like we’re set for more pain at the pumps this year.
More: How to find the cheapest diesel and petrol prices | Six costly motoring mistakes
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Price has gone up 4p in last week round here, definitely not a scare story.
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charles125 - You do talk some rubbish. All fuels sold in the EU have to follow a directive which was set in 1998 and recently revised in 2007.This sets out a minimum standards that fuels must attain to be sold in the EU. This also helps set the motor manufacturers on how their engines are expected to perform during their lifespan. As for your additives theory, you must understand that additives are very expensive to the fuel manufacturers compared to the cost of fuel manufactured. To thin down fuel and add additives is economic suicide. The way that a diesel engine works means that there is only a finite amount of diesel that can be injected into the engine per stroke for the amount of air that can be taken into the engine (hence the need for turbos for diesels). To use up more fuel, the number of revs must increase and I personally have not noticed any increase in revs for the same power/speed on any of my cars. If this is happening to your car then I would advise you to take it to a reputable mechanic and get it checked out and a possible service. Simply having an blocked air filter would give the symptoms you're describing.
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Of course low-sulphur 'environmentally-friendly' diesel has to be refined more, and because of it's lower energy content, causes diesel engines to use about one and a half times more fuel, than was the case ten or more years ago. But it doesn't end there, diesel is now made almost water thin. There are additives to make it look and feel oily, additives to allow it to even combust in the first place and additives to prevent engine knock and misfiring, as the base fuel is now of such a low quality. As diesel fuel is made weaker and weaker, the only way a diesel engine can produce the same amount of power is to use more and more fuel. What we are basically seeing is ever higher priced diesel, of poorer and poorer quality, so that it is only very high technology very modern engines that can get any fuel economy out of it. 'Diesel' these days is almost as thin as WD-40, and an engine that two years ago was getting over 30mpg is now likely to only get about 20 mpg, so as well as costing more, it gets us less and less far along the road!
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19 January 2012