Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008
Off topic just this once but "I will let you know if I break down"
Evening Standard: Motorists fury as 'profiteering' Shell and BP post record profits of more than £3million an hour.
Consumers are facing huge price hikes in food and utility bills. Petrol prices are rising while oil companies' profits are going sky high. Oil companies should not be profiteering while so many are struggling to make ends meet. So I am going to try it...
Posted by yoyo1 @ 10:55 PM (1020 views) Add Comment
19 Comments
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1. yoyo1 said...
.... that is vegetable oil in my motor. I've heard rumours that diesel engines can easily run on a 50/50 mix of diesel / veg oil but as yet have never tried it. With fuel rising to 1.50 in the near term, now seems like a good time to try. Any advice welcome.
2. whiteknight said...
What is the breakdown on a litre of unleaded petrol in terms of who gets what?
3. quiet guy said...
@yoyo1
You might find this video useful and interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOFbsaNeZps
I have also contemplated doing this but haven't tried it yet. I know somebody who has been doing this for a while without problems. Good luck.
4. enuii said...
yoyo, I see you have been suckered by the big bad oil barons smoke screen in the media. I would be more concerned about what this government is doing bailing banks out with multi-billions that have strangely enough drifted up financially from £50,000,000,000 to £100,000,000,000 (looks better than Bn).
5. jack c said...
whiteknight said...What is the breakdown on a litre of unleaded petrol in terms of who gets what?
Currently in the UK 61% of what u put in the tank (perol) is duty paid to the exchequer
6. planning4acrash said...
A re-post: "This is NOT profiteering. Oil is bid4in global free market auctions that reflect supply & demand, speculation forms the majority of current oil price inflation, driven by $ printed by banks 2 shore up their balance sheets. Coming2 a petrol pump near you!"
7. shipbuilder said...
yoyo1, if it is an older diesel engine, it may be OK, but don't even consider it with a modern common-rail diesel. In fact be vary wary on engines built in the last 10 years - you would need to research your specific engine, as even on older engines, the fuel pump may not like it - I believe Lucas pumps in particular don't like vegetable oil.
I reckon a big, old (preferably 80s) Merc estate (or even better a Citroen CX estate) diesel bought for three figures and running on used vegetable oil is the ultimate in budget motoring. Classic insurance as well, remember.
8. shipbuilder said...
Perhaps the best solution to the motoring budget is to dump the wage-slave job with the 100 mile commute that you hate anyway, buy a bike and start appreciating the good things in life.
9. Schaublin said...
I run a 92 300D Merc on 50/50 veg/diesel. Runs better and quieter although with veg oil now at 1.00 a litre it is not such much a good dodge as it was some months ago at 56p litre. There is a lot of good information out there if you are prepared to spend some time researching the subject. I am going to Eastern Europe in a few days and will be paying 50p a litre there which is more like it.
10. daft boy said...
are you kids really so stupid ? we will all be on fuel rationing again within 2 years. coupons will only allow 80 miles a week just like last time.
11. Fed Up said...
But what makes the oil companies any worse than the supermarket cartel ramping up food prices?
12. cornishman said...
Fuel prices are not so off topic. Our local BBC news had some pensioner on the TV last night saying how expensive it is to keep their car running and how they have to have a car to get into town to go to the doctor etc.
It seems that high fuel prices are here to stay and it will mean that many people choose to move back into town and sell their country houses so that they can walk to the shops/doctor/dentist etc. There will end up being a drop in the present values of country properties relative to town houses IMO.
I agree with shipbuilder's comments re common rail diesels.
13. Ijjhall said...
Everytime we fill up 67 per cent of what we hand over goes to Alistair Darling..
14. yoyo1 said...
Thanks,
I'll go and ask my wife if I can borrow her car for a few days and report back at the weekend.
15. Dbc Reed said...
Rudolph Diesel was some kind of mad genius, who was very prophetic.His engine, which he ran on peanut oil ,was specifically designed to give power to the small operator being crushed by big business.(We would n't be involved in all these wars if there were n't competition for petrol) All the online bios need selective reading and leave a lot out : he did n't consider himself German but Thuringian; he tried to abolish war by inventing a non harmful explosive projectile which would give a satisfactory bang without hurting anybody; his death is suspicious, one theory being that he was pushed in the Channel by the German secret service.
16. yoyo1 said...
That's if I am still married!
17. tyrellcorporation said...
Yoyo, The oil companies have to locate the oil, extract the oil, transport the oil, refine the oil, distribute the oil and sell the oil. The government simply extorts cash from them for doing so. The government makes more money than the firms that are doing all the work and taking all the risk. That is not right! Don't get taken in by the media spin about 'evil oil barons'. This is simply a precursor to the pleasantly titled 'windfall tax' that Labour is probably planning on the oil companies, energy companies, etc. This windfall tax is nothing more that a state raid on investors money - basically theft.
18. also sold to rent said...
The idea that these companies are profiteering is understandable, but wrong. I didn't see anybody crying about how oil prices were too low when it was $10 a barrel. These companies have to make huge profits when the can (i.e. the 70's and now) as they have long period where profits are weak. If they don't make the profits, they won't invest in new fields, supply goes down and you wake up with $500 oil and no electricity.
High fuel tax is a good thing for several reasons. 1, it dampens the volatility in oil prices, 2, it reduces burning of oil, 3, it allows the government to lower taxation on fuel in hard times. Unfortunately our deficit is likely to be over EU limits (3% of GDP) so option 3 is unlikely.
Anyway, if you think fuel is expensive now, just wait 5 years.
19. shipbuilder said...
Yes, the government are taking a massive slice of the pie when it comes to fuel, but let's not forget that in reality the oil companies don't actually own the oil - we do, morally if not legally. Reduce the tax at the pumps, but windfall tax away, I say.