All change - NOT amateur radio

We have one garage in our village selling fuel. When we came in 1975 there were 3.   Attached to the garage was a very useful Co-op shop. Both the garage and shop are now Asda. Luckily, the same staff seem to be there.

Fuel Prices - NOT amateur radio

 Certainly in the UK, and I suspect elsewhere, fuel prices have been climbing up. Members of OPEC+ including Saudi Arabia and Russia are cutting production in the hope of stabilizing prices. Earlier this year prices were falling. 

Those who use cars and vans for work are the hardest hit. Personally, I hope there is a competitive price war and prices are driven down.

UK fuel prices - NOT amateur radio

In the last month the exchange rate of the UK pound against the USA dollar has improved by about 10%. The wholesale price of a barrel of oil has fallen by about 10%. 

This should mean the proportion of the price of fuel due to barrel prices (excluding tax, delivery etc.) should have improved by about 20% resulting in a drop in fuel prices at garages.

What has happened in the real world? Prices have hardly changed.

UK fuel prices - NOT amateur radio

In the last few weeks the exceptional UK fuel prices have dropped back a little. They have risen because of the war in Ukraine and the exchange rate.

Last winter we would have been appalled at even today's prices. Let us hope they fall further.

These were the prices at our local co-op earlier per litre.

Fuel prices - a con? - NOT amateur radio

Since early March fuel prices have dropped considerably. Have retail prices followed suit? NO!!! 

Whilst I can understand retailers trying to claw back losses suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic, I hope retailers follow suit and drop their prices too.

It seems to me that consumers are being taken for a ride - well actually not as the fuel is too expensive!! 

Fuel prices - NOT amateur radio

Certainly here in the UK fuel prices have rocketed. 

I guess this is due to the war in Ukraine.

This collage shows some of the local prices a few days ago.

UK fuel shortages - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago someone leaked a memo saying a few (5?) garages had run out of fuel but do not panic as there is lots of fuel in the country. So what happens? Lots of people panic so most garages have very long queues and run out of fuel! This is stupid!!! Let's hope things get back to normal soon.

Even in our rural Cambridgeshire village the queue was huge (miles long) and the village garage was soon dry.  The photo show part of the queue yesterday. They had a new delivery earlier, but there was no diesel.

You can now understand why an Orson Wells radio play of 1938 about Martians caused widespread panic in the USA.

Fuel prices creeping up? - NOT amateur radio

Certainly over the last month, UK fuel prices have been rising. Although the pound is stronger against the dollar, the wholesale price of oil has been rising faster.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market_data/commodities/143908/default.stm

Fuel prices - NOT amateur radio

Have you noticed that UK fuel prices are creeping up? The UK £ to US $ is getting better and better, but the wholesale price of crude is rising faster. At the moment diesel is up to £1.29 a litre, but it seems to go up every week.

Fuel prices upwards? - NOT amateur radio

Looking at commodity prices, it looks like the wholesale price of oil is moving upwards. At the moment prices are well below prices a few years ago, but the trend seems to be upwards. Expect higher pump prices in 2018.

Fuel going down in price - NOT amateur radio

Both Asda and Tesco (big UK supermarkets) have announced they are reducing fuel costs. The barrel price has dropped and this may be the reason. In recent months fuel prices have risen, but not in line with exchange rates worsening since the BREXIT vote. If you depend on your car for work, this is good news. It will help to reduce the inflation figures.

I guess this is a 2-edged sword as it means North Sea oil is worth less in exports. As a nation, we need to buy more UK goods and import less. We have become too reliant on imports.

Will hydrogen be the future fuel?

No-one can really argue that carbon based fuels like petrol, diesel and gas are not good for the environment and a good proportion come from politically sensitive regions like the Middle East. Electric vehicles use expensive batteries and have poor ranges. Possibly efficient hydrogen fuel cells may be the future? Korean car manufacturers think they have now reached the point at which hydrogen fuel celled powered cars are commercially viable. Of course we need the infrastructure such as refueling stations. They claim ranges of 300-400 miles, which are fine. They claim refueling will only take a few minutes.

I remember fuel-cell makers trying to convince me that fuel cells were better than Li-Ion batteries for our TETRA radios. At the time it was hype. Things have moved on quite a lot since then. Of course, the oil industry needs to evolve. They should be heavily investing in technologies for the future.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31926995 .