Price of Oil

tails_naf

I know this may fit a number of forums, but I think it has a lot to do with the economy.

I can't fathom why the price of Petrol/Diesel/Heating oil is so high - given the following info:

Price of a barrel of oil (in usd):
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CO/M

So the peak was over 130 USD, and it is currently at 90 USD.

The price at the pump is pretty much at it's peak, even when a barrel was 130.
and the price of heating oil has rocketed up!
I don't think the exchange rate has changed by 50% in that same time.

So what gives - anyone here knows what happens between the barrel and the pump that seems to be absorbing this difference, and costing us a fortune? Is it tax alone?

ei.sdraob

tails_naf wrote: »

I know this may fit a number of forums, but I think it has a lot to do with the economy.

I can't fathom why the price of Petrol/Diesel/Heating oil is so high - given the following info:

Price of a barrel of oil (in usd):
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CO/M

So the peak was over 130 USD, and it is currently at 90 USD.

The price at the pump is pretty much at it's peak, even when a barrel was 130.
and the price of heating oil has rocketed up!
I don't think the exchange rate has changed by 50% in that same time.

So what gives - anyone here knows what happens between the barrel and the pump that seems to be absorbing this difference, and costing us a fortune? Is it tax alone?

Taxes keep going up too, on top of other taxes :rolleyes:
you pay less than half what we do for petrol over across the Atlantic
if we do away with all these silly taxes in first place that would be a giant stimulus to the economy, especially in businesses that need to use transportation and roads (pretty much all of them)

but not thats too bloody simple for the do gooder greens, they rather tax the country into the stone age

edit: dont forget that the euro is also weakening against the dollar and oil is sold in dollars


edit 2: one of the Green TDs thinks that expensive fuels is great since it puts so many people out of job, i told him what i think about their crazy ideologically driven destruction of the economy

Cookie_Monster

The barrel price of oil has little to do with the price at the pumps in general.

FX rates play a part with the Euro down about 10% on the USD so far this year.
Tax increases of 10c on a litre of petrol over the last two budgets have an impact too.

bigbadbear

The price of oil apparently doesn't have a huge effect on the price of petrol as most of the cost is in the processing of the oil. the euro to US dollar rate is the main factor and the tax added make up the difference.

i still think our fuel prices are too high though

snubbleste

The Ipia have a very helpful breakdown of the price of fuel
http://www.ipia.ie/Issues/upload/What_determines_pump_prices.pdf

If your litre of petrol costs 131c at the pump
Product = 48.73c
Excise tax = 54.18c
Carbon tax = 3.43c
Nora tax = 2.00c
Vat = 22.75c

ei.sdraob

snubbleste wrote: »

The Ipia have a very helpful breakdown of the price of fuel
http://www.ipia.ie/Issues/upload/What_determines_pump_prices.pdf

If your litre of petrol costs 131c at the pump
Product = 48.73c
Excise tax = 54.18c
Carbon tax = 3.43c
Nora tax = 2.00c
Vat = 22.75c

Yep a giant tax collecting exercise that retards the economy
unfortunately our politicians are unable to comprehend a simple concept that in a modern economy cheaper energy means more jobs and productivity.
whats worse is that this money collected doesn't get used on the infrastructure building/maintenance

and directly leads to high prices in products and services

Cookie_Monster

snubbleste wrote: »

The Ipia have a very helpful breakdown of the price of fuel
http://www.ipia.ie/Issues/upload/What_determines_pump_prices.pdf

If your litre of petrol costs 131c at the pump
Product = 48.73c
Excise tax = 54.18c
Carbon tax = 3.43c
Nora tax = 2.00c
Vat = 22.75c

where can you get petrol at that price? 141c is average around here with 139c the cheapest

tails_naf

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Taxes keep going up to, on top of other taxes :rolleyes:

you pay less than half what we do for petrol over across the Atlantic

but do taxes alone explain the price difference?

the cost of fuel in the US is really low, it's less than 1/2 - currently about 0.50 eur per liter, and they pay tax too!

Squiggle

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

where can you get petrol at that price? 141c is average around here with 139c the cheapest

pumps.ie will give you some idea of prices around the country. We're being fleeced where I am in Wexford but it wouldn't pay me to drive to Meath for the cheap stuff !

ei.sdraob

tails_naf wrote: »

but do taxes alone explain the price difference?

the cost of fuel in the US is really low, it's less than 1/2 - currently about 0.50 eur per liter, and they pay tax too!

Yes the tax there is about a few cents on top of the real price, varies of course state to state

but its only a very small percentage of the price of fuel unlike here

example:
Georgia today ~$2.70 per US gallon
2.70/3.785 (liters in us gallon) = $0.71 per liter
which is €0.55 per litre as per today's exchange rate
petrol station down road from me says €1.42 per liter

thats 2.5 times the price difference!

just think of how many jobs that help create/maintain here in Ireland if one of the major costs for all businesses is removed!
and their customers have to get to the shops somehow as well!


there you go a real "stimulus"

bigbadbear

I'm just reading through this thread which I find very interesting. The video in post 9 goes into the workings of the oil prices and all that.

later12

It's quite simple really - oil prices do reflect the price you pay at the pumb eventually, but the more you add to the cost in terms of tax and excise duties as well as the impact of the exchange rate, the smaller the proportion of the oil price trend is reflected in the overall cost.

In effect, unless the change is considerable, it gets drowned out.