fuel prices

[The Hornet]

Aha....couple of guys I work with live in Rochford.

...If I see ya...I'll give a wave

Mines black and standard with a member sticker on the front window under the mirror. I'll keep an eye open for you waving.

[Surfer Ross]

Really? I didn't realise the domestic heating oil market was so big it could skew the price of diesel. Where did you get your information from?

You're thinking on too small a scale. Demand in the UK is a very small part of the big picture.

The domestic heating oil market is massive. All of rural Scotland North of the Central Belt, Northern Ireland outwith the cities, much of Northern, Eastern and South-west England outwith cities and a large part of Wales. Thats just in the UK. Heating Oil use across North America and Western and Central Europe is huge. I'll come to how that affects us in a minute.

Diesel, Kerosine, Gasoil and Jet Fuel (Jet-A1/Avtur) are all basically the same thing with different additives to lower freezing point and cetane content etc. Britain is a net importer of diesel and as such is subject to international market conditions. When winter hits the Northern Hemisphere, demand for heating oil surges and the refineries struggle to keep up with this surge. As a simple matter of supply and demand, the price increases with demand when supply can't keep up.

Due to all of the above fuels being the same base product, the price of all are affected even though the main increase in demand is for heating oil.

From 2002 to 2004, diesel averaged less than two pence more expensive than petrol, growing to four pence throughout last year. In the summers of 2000 and 2001, the price of diesel equalled or was cheaper than petrol, becoming more expensive in the winter when the demand for heating oils grows.

Link: http://www.iam.org.uk/motoringtrust/...seldrivers.htm

Hope this helps.

[Albannach]

You're thinking on too small a scale. Demand in the UK is a very small part of the big picture.

The domestic heating oil market is massive. All of rural Scotland North of the Central Belt, Northern Ireland outwith the cities, much of Northern, Eastern and South-west England outwith cities and a large part of Wales. Thats just in the UK. Heating Oil use across North America and Western and Central Europe is huge. I'll come to how that affects us in a minute.

Diesel, Kerosine, Gasoil and Jet Fuel (Jet-A1/Avtur) are all basically the same thing with different additives to lower freezing point and cetane content etc. Britain is a net importer of diesel and as such is subject to international market conditions. When winter hits the Northern Hemisphere, demand for heating oil surges and the refineries struggle to keep up with this surge. As a simple matter of supply and demand, the price increases with demand when supply can't keep up.

Due to all of the above fuels being the same base product, the price of all are affected even though the main increase in demand is for heating oil.



Link: http://www.iam.org.uk/motoringtrust/...seldrivers.htm

Hope this helps.

That's not how I understood the global energy market to work, nor is that what I thought Diesel was.

Every day's a school day.