[Hypnodisc]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7372509.stm

And there's me thinking that petrol sellers 'barely make anything' from the petrol *rolls eyes*

[fat controller]

And they are allowed to get away with it! The greed of these people is quietly shafting most members of society, and even having a large impact on the economy of the entire country, yet it seems that nothing can be done.

Any other industry that had a price fixing cartel would be subjected to all sorts of fines and sanctions.

[Ginger Nut]

Well that is the perceived wisdom isn't it, that they make most of their profits from other arms of the business.

If that is so I've always wondered why they bother selling petrol at all if it offers so little profit.

A company that makes such whopping profit obviously knows something about running a business.....


Mind you, there is certainly no denying that the vast vast majority of the cost of fuel is tax.

[gandatron]

And yet my shares are still worth less than when I bought them

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChart.asp?...t=BP.&share=bp

[shackfan]

How come it took so long for a thread on this to start? The figures were given out on the news this morning. I realise they make a lot of it elsewhere, but surely they could offset some of this to lower the price of fuel. Now we have gone past the £1 a litre mark and the price per gallon isnt shown so we cant see its passed the £5 a gallon, it just keeps going up. We NEED our cars. Most people dont waste it on needless journeys. We just cant afford this anymore.

[Katharsis]

Petrol sellers don't make much, it's the petrol suppliers that make the moeny!

[Ginger Nut]

Originally Posted by shackfan

How come it took so long for a thread on this to start? The figures were given out on the news this morning. I realise they make a lot of it elsewhere, but surely they could offset some of this to lower the price of fuel. Now we have gone past the £1 a litre mark and the price per gallon isnt shown so we cant see its passed the £5 a gallon, it just keeps going up. We NEED our cars. Most people dont waste it on needless journeys. We just cant afford this anymore.

Are any of the news sites carrying a pie chart to show who gets what from the cost of a litre of fuel? I ask because people generally speculate on how much is tax and the figures vary from 65% to 85% usually. I believe it's nearer 85% but I could be wrong.

I think the companies could knock a wee bit off the price but it wouldn't be all that significant. Really we need the government to stop taking the piss. At whatever % of piss they take like.

[Ginger Nut]

Here we go. Figures from the BBC News.

For a litre of petrol costing 108 pence, approximately 33 pence goes to the oil company, 9 pence to the retailer, 50 pence fuel duty to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and 16 pence VAT to the chancellor.

66/108 * 100 = 61.11% to the government
33/108 * 100 = 30.55% to the producer
9/108 * 100 = 08.33% to the retailer

Some dodgy rounding there but it's about right.

I'm surprised the government only get 61%.

That "only" is obviously dripping with sarcasm.

[duncann]

If you are worried about high petrol prices they are not caused by these profits, over 90% of which come from other operations in other countries. BP could have declared a loss and the price of oil wouldn't come down.

Selling petrol in the UK is very competitive with supermarkets operating pumps. Read the article - of the price you pay at the pump while BP takes 33p, the Chancellor is taking twice that - 66p for tax and VAT. Try to think of another product where the Chancellor is taking twice the wholesale price in tax at the point of sale.

If you think the price is too high the Chancellor could drop the tax instantly, but it is the government's policy to tax you out of your car and force you onto public transport.

[James2001]

Originally Posted by duncann

but it is the government's policy to tax you out of your car and force you onto public transport.

Just a shame that if you live outside of London, then public transport is woefullt inadequate (and expensive). We're not lucky enough to be able to flash around Oyster cards and switch between numerous bus routes & tube lines. Quite simply, if you want to get anywhere, you NEED a car.

[Gordie1]

Theres no enouh oil = pump Prices go up
Theres not enough oil = pump prices go up
Barrel prices go up = pump prices go up
Barrel prices go down = pump prices go up
oil companys announce record proffits = pump prices go up
oil companys announces losses = pump prices go up
oil workers strike = pump prices go up


Can someone please explain to me how this works, as i dont get it, is there ever a scenarion where pump prices would come down?

surely this a monopoly?

[Hypnodisc]

Originally Posted by Gordie1

Theres no enouh oil = pump Prices go up
Theres not enough oil = pump prices go up
Barrel prices go up = pump prices go up
Barrel prices go down = pump prices go up
oil companys announce record proffits = pump prices go up
oil companys announces losses = pump prices go up
oil workers strike = pump prices go up


Can someone please explain to me how this works, as i dont get it, is there ever a scenarion where pump prices would come down?

surely this a monopoly?

OPEC is a Cartel - which isn't far off a monopoly.

If barrel prices go down, the prices will go down a bit, eventually - but not if they only go down by a dollar or two. We observed this at the beginning of this year. Prices went up over $100 a barrell (to about 101.9 a litre then they fell down to about 99.9 a litre again)

When the petrol trading bubble bursts/the dollar becomes stronger and/or recession occurrs - prices will go down.

[Spot]

This might be enlightening

http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/...ofit-shock.jsp

[skp20040]

Originally Posted by Hypnodisc

BP Profits Rise 48% (£3.31bn) - Disgusting

Lets be fair , BP are a company that runs to make a profit, the government is taking the lions share and thats what I think needs to be looked at.

[Specktater]

Originally Posted by Ginger Nut

Are any of the news sites carrying a pie chart to show who gets what from the cost of a litre of fuel? I ask because people generally speculate on how much is tax and the figures vary from 65% to 85% usually. I believe it's nearer 85% but I could be wrong.
...

Here's some interesting reading: http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html and if you click 'price of petrol' on the same site they've got a wee breakdown graphic

[lemoncurd]

Why is it `disgusting' when oil companies make £3bn a year? Oil is a luxury (admittedly one that we have all commoditised because it has been historically so cheap).
No one seems to have a fit when, say, Intel announce £9bn of profits!

[Kami]

Originally Posted by skp20040

Lets be fair , BP are a company that runs to make a profit, the government is taking the lions share and thats what I think needs to be looked at.

Does it? we need to pay taxes, it's a tax most people can't dodge unlike council tax and road tax which far too many people get away with avoiding.

[skp20040]

Originally Posted by Kami

Does it? we need to pay taxes, it's a tax most people can't dodge unlike council tax and road tax which far too many people get away with avoiding.

And how much of that tax we pay is wasted by this government ?

Fantastic news - it's paying for my pension.

Originally Posted by Hypnodisc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7372509.stm

And there's me thinking that petrol sellers 'barely make anything' from the petrol *rolls eyes*

Whats disgusting they pay taxes to the UK government and are one of the companies that keep pensions going.

People always complain about these companies but if they move their HQ's abroad you'd have a lot more to complain about and more tax to pay

[Recharge]

80% of what we pay is tax ... blame the government. NuLab have destroyed our country.

Also don't think NuLab will stop this, think of all the tax on that £3.31bn!

[Recharge]

Originally Posted by Kami

Does it? we need to pay taxes, it's a tax most people can't dodge unlike council tax and road tax which far too many people get away with avoiding.

BP pays a lot of tax on that £3.31bn too ... I think we need them to make all that money to pay tax!

[pricesout]

Originally Posted by Gordie1

Theres no enouh oil = pump Prices go up
Theres not enough oil = pump prices go up
Barrel prices go up = pump prices go up
Barrel prices go down = pump prices go up
oil companys announce record proffits = pump prices go up
oil companys announces losses = pump prices go up
oil workers strike = pump prices go up


Can someone please explain to me how this works, as i dont get it, is there ever a scenarion where pump prices would come down?

surely this a monopoly?

Prices do go down, as well as up:

http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm

[Bingo_Reg]

Originally Posted by Recharge

80% of what we pay is tax ... blame the government.

Wrong.

Originally Posted by Ginger Nut

Here we go. Figures from the BBC News.



66/108 * 100 = 61.11% to the government
33/108 * 100 = 30.55% to the producer
9/108 * 100 = 08.33% to the retailer

Some dodgy rounding there but it's about right.

I'm surprised the government only get 61%.

That "only" is obviously dripping with sarcasm.

[Hypnodisc]

Originally Posted by lemoncurd

Why is it `disgusting' when oil companies make £3bn a year? Oil is a luxury (admittedly one that we have all commoditised because it has been historically so cheap).
No one seems to have a fit when, say, Intel announce £9bn of profits!

What's disgusting is we are led to believe that petrol/diesel retailers are making shockingly low profits (and we're told that price increases in no way help the retailers, - and it's barely worthwhile them selling petrol), when in fact they have had profit growth of 41%