Should I rush out and panic buy a tank of diesel?

[Caligula]

Apparantly the people who decide whether we're allowed to travel or not when they feel like it, the road haulier's association, are going to start blockading petrol stations on Wednesday. I have to drive about 150 miles on Thursday and I've only got a quarter of a tank.

Should I rush out and buy more?

The price of oil has sod all to do with the price of fuel atm. It's sheer profiteering.

I agree Janh, profiteering on the part of the Govt.

No, the oil companies this time, easy. Duty is fixed, this increase is nearly all profit.

But jan, the duty is a % of the price charged by the oil company. over 80% of the price we pay at the pump is actually tax, so less than 20% is the actual price of the petrol.

I agree that the oil companies are making good profits, but we will need them to explore for more oil/better alternative fuels in the future.

Easy - Are you serious????? We pay 80% tax on fuel???????

FFS I'm going to the refinery to blockade it too!!

At 90p , "product" was 23p, duty 47p, VAT 13p; a 10p increase represents 30%-40% increase in price of "product" and it hasn't gone up anything like that amount.

DH went to top up today. Fortunately, the colleague he used to drive to work passed his test and got a car this weekend, so they can rotate out, which they were planning to do anyhow. They may be able to pool w/another colleague who lives in the area as well if he gets the shift change he wants.

Look at p4 of that BBC link!

Forgive me for possibly being dense, but will the rise in oil prices affect diesel as well as petrol?

Like the idea of smokers blockading supermarkets, wonder if I could get that rolling? Almost all the price of a pack of cigarettes (around £5 now!) is tax. And it's largely a tax on the poor, given the demographics of smokers. I know, I know, we should all give up - but it's an addiction and difficult to shake. And then they have the cheek to blame us for costing the NHS money - taxes on smoking raise £8bn pounds per year which far, far outweighs the health costs of smoking however you try to calculate them. AND we save money on pensions by dying younger (on average).

Edam - Yes! Its all made from by refining Crude Oil, and Crude Oil prices are at their highest at the moment (due to Iraq and then New Orleans).

PMSL at the justification for smoking..... being that we save the tax payers a fortune by dying young therefore not taking a lot of State Pension money! Good one, like that excuse..... must remember that arguement for future on MN.

Errr Our local petrol station has run out

My nearest petrol station is apparently only having one more tanker full today. Eeek. Luckily we have a full tank. But can't understand why there's a shortage already - are they anticipating blockades or rationing already?

Whats going on? Why are they running out just now????

Dp works for a drinks delivery company and they have all been told to fill the lorries up.

This is pissing me off. All the garages were full with queues this evening so I'm hoping I'll be able to fill up at 7am on the M1 tomorrow. But even if I can that'll get me to Friday and if I can't get petrol then I can't get home. God, it makes me effing cross.

Garages running out where I live 'cos silly people are panicking and topping up - major queues at every petrol station I passed today - surely all these people don't 'need' to buy petrol - if they did the garages would be like this all the time!!!

Hoping it'll calm down towards the weekend - my sister has just had her first baby and I would like to meet my new nephew this weekend - she lives about 3 hours drive away - so will need a full tank of petrol to get there and back!!!

I have been to fill up this evening, as my fuel light was on, and I don't have time in the morning. It pisses me off though, as everything is going to be affected by this shocking rise in price, and the fact that people don't have any sense and can't see that things with probably be back to normal in a few days.

It's like Christmas Eve. People can't cope with the shiope being closed for a whole 2 days, so they have to buy an huge amounnt of food, most of which ends up in the bin by boxing day.

And then the Polish government goes and slashes their fuel tax by 30% to promote economic growth. No wonder the Polish trucks that come over to the UK have huge petrol tanks!

our two nearest have both run out. five years ago there were at least double the amount of petrol stations round here - they've all closed and been redeveloped.

i passed 2 petrol stations today that had run out. am glad i filled mine up last week, and have hardly used it. must have over 3/4tank left still.

I'm sure we were warned about this

i hope it will calm down to as it is my ds's christening on sunday, whats the last will they be blockades tomorrow?

Message withdrawn

There was a drama going on in Sainsbury's petrol station (in London) this evening - a queue for petrol a mile long, a minor bump, and then an incredibly aggressive mouthy young woman who was, I think, arrested by the time I left. She was screaming her head off because she thought someone had queue jumped for petrol. I didn't need petrol thank god but had to drive past this cheery little lot to go to Sainsbury's. I passed 2 petrol stations who had sold out too, it's madness.

sleepysuzy - who by?