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Fuel Prices


mr_brain
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  • 2 weeks later...
It's now at 111.9p per litre - we're getting there! :)

 

I'm not sure where we're getting. There still seems to be at least a 20p gap.

 

I was down to Hull last week for a run and from Aberdeen through Edinburgh right down to Hull, Unleaded was about 90.9-91.9p a litre. I was told that some of the supermarkets were now lower than 90p a litre.

 

Not much joy for us but at least old 'Two Jags' has something to smile about!

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But the tankers will have to charge extra to take oil to Shetland, that's a fact: They have to travel up here with it, and if they're not getting any extra for it, they won't bother at all.

 

I'd love for fuel prices to go down in Shetland but I just don't know how its possible unless you reduce the commission the boats take.

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But why is there such a split in the prices between Shetland and everywhere else? I don't believe for a second that it cost upwards of 20p per litre, over one fifth of its value, extra to transport fuel to Shetland.

 

The supermarkets are now selling unleaded around 90p per litre. I accept that their margins are far lower, but you can guarantee one thing, they won't be selling it at a loss.

 

The answer is still the same - there is gross profiteering from fuel supply in the rural regions taking place, because there isn't any competition to drive the prices down and their is no choice but to buy the product at the price offered.

I don't know why more isn't being done at a higher level to address this.

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The problem here is the extra charge levied by the tanker operators who deliver the fuel to Shetland, and not the local service stations. I don't understand why the politicians can't get a grip of this.

 

That'll be the very same tankers operators that deliver the fuel to Wick/Scrabster from where the Orkney garage owners can pick up a load by a road tanker doing a double trip on a ro/ro ferry and then sell it in Orkney at 8 or 9 pence a litre cheaper than if they got it delivered to Kirkwall direct!

 

Don't believe the tosh about the cost of delivery to shetland, it just doesn't wash.

 

I heard on the radio that Northlink are considering buying their vessels bunker fuel in Shetland. It too gets delivered by sea tanker to Shetland and I doubt if their decision will be because it is more expensive here. The only difference I am aware of is that it is imported by SBS, not GB Oils or whatever they are called now.

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The reason why we pay more for everything, is because a survey says we have the best lifestyle in Scotland, earn more money than everyone else, so we can afford to give the oil companys a few extra bob or two :roll:

 

By the way , i wonder how many un-necessary gas guzzling 4x4s (Lerwick tractors :wink: ) there are in Shetland?, i bet for head of population, it's the most in the UK.And don't tell me it's because we have snow for 6 months of the year.

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It certainly doesn't cost 20p per litre to ship fuel to Shetland by tanker, but someone somewhere along the line is adding 20p to the price on the pretext that it is freight. The price differential used to be about 10p but now it's higher. The local service stations have always maintained that their margins are very low and that they are having to pay the higher price (delivery included) to their supplier. So if it's not the local service stations, then it has to be someone who is handling the fuel between the refinery (Grangemouth) and Shetland i.e. the distributors who either own and operate the tankers, or charter them.

 

Just to put some perspective on this, assuming that there are about 8,000 cars in Shetand consuming about 50 litres per week. That's close to half a million litres per week and about two million litres per month. Two of the tankers that come up here, the Border Heather and Border Tartan, can carry 3,000 tonnes and 5,000 tonnes respectively. Assuming that they do a part delivery of 2,000 tonnes to Shetland per month that's 2 million litres per month at 20p = £400,000 extra charge for the privelege of delivering to Shetland. It certainly doesn't cost anything like that to run a relatively small vessel up to Shetland, so someone somewhere is creaming it.

 

PS: I admit these figures are just estimates, but I think they're probably in the right area.

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They might want to do this for their own usage, but not the publics.

Reports recently predict oil below $40 in the new year, the price down south now below 90p a litre for petrol, not including supermarkets extra 5p off on top.

VAT may be reduced to 15% in the pre budget thingy, if that was on fuel we would be slightly happier :roll:

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Would it not be more sense for the SIC to buy a tanker than waste money on their other projects. This would perhaps be the best solution.

It would hardly be viable to operate a tanker just for one trip per month to Shetland with 2,000 tonnes of fuel. This requires a distributor who can make full use of the tankers delivering to all the ports in North of Scotland, but of course they have a monopoly, so our fuel will always cost more up here.

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