Fuel

[Kerry]

Gee, is it any wonder that some get a little cynical towards fuel companies, oil prices going up and before the news lady finishes, the bowser price is already on the way up, then when oil prices come down those same bowsers must be like poison to the price adjusters [smiley=speechless.gif] geez it takes them a long time to wind back, if at all.

A bit like 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

Cheers, Kerry.

[SNELLY]

Kerry,

Tooooo true

[SeaHunt]

Don't get me started, the whole pricing thing is a wank, and has been ever since the Gov introduced world parity pricing back in the 70's.
We produce a heap of oil , probably 80 % of our feul requirements at a whole lot cheaper than the world price. But it ALL has to go through the refineries at world price , then the tax is a % on that so if it goes up, so does the tax, double whammy. #
When is the last time a politician bought petrol ? they are out of touch and don't care , because they get Gov . cars and fuel cards. High fuel prices keep the greenies happy too.
I had some US work visitors over the other week , two things really surprised them, how dear petrol was and also houses. I understood the petrol price reaction , but not the house one?

[jockey]

Houses? You'd think we'd have the cheapest land over here.

We pay a lot less for fuel than Europe, which has a lot of green taxes (especially Germany). Iraqi's pay about 1c/L. I don't think you'd want the air in our cities to be like the air in American cities. I also don't think its a good idea to dig it all up and burn it cheap just because we have it. Our children may need it.

[PinHead]

So very true Kerry.

Seahunt..most of our oil is not heavy enough grade for petrol manufacture ..it is a lighter machine oil..to get heavy enough crude for petrol we have to mix ours with imported oil.

[straddie]

Heya Pinhead, our oil is fine for fuels, the heavier grades are required for oil products (lubricants).

I believe the price for petrol is set against the Singapore spot price + shipping + X? + Y?, a formula set by the federal government. The Singapore refineries used to have a glut of petrol but this has been taken up by greater demand from the Chinese and their booming economy.

Being a US$ commodity we are getting hit twice in two ways, not only are we paying double tax (duty+GST), we also have a falling dollar so every time the dollar falls a cent fuel goes up around a cent.

Kerry there is some rorting that goes on and that comes at the begginging as prices are rising, although oil companies buy at todays prices there is a several week shipping delay of crude but they usually reflect the rise early at the pump. Being slow to pass on the falls in pricing is justified as the on sea product has been purchased at higher prices.

Oil company margin is about 8 cents servo margin between 2 - 3 cents. Interestingly over 60% of the fuel price is Federal government tax and except for water, fuel is the cheapest liquid you can buy.

[SeaHunt]

Sorry Straddie , have to disagree. I can still buy Coke for under $1 a litre at Wollies or Coles when it is on special. $1.87 for two litres last week, thats 93.5 cents a litre , I think petrol was 97 the same day. Bottled water, except the homebrand stuff is usually well over a dollar per litre.
Jockey, the sooner it runs out the better , necessity is the mother of invention.
The technology is almost here already , within the next 10 years or so all the problems will be addressed, unfortunately the world supply of oil is expected to last at least another 100 years.
Also I can see very little correlation between the price of petrol and the air quality in our cities. What are we all going to drive around the city a lot more if the price drops by 10c a litre?? #
Most people drive where they have to drive and thats about it.

[sir_noelus]

SeaHunt you've got it close to right. Isn't it clever though the way fuel prices (at least here) go up with pay days, long weekends, and other holidays and drop again immediately after. Lower fuel prices would certainly make fishing cheaper, create more usage, and the end result becomes questionably better than what we've got. However the thing that stands out most of all is the ridiculous prices people pay for a bottle of water. We have spent millions creating safe water for our kids and they now live on bottled stuff for which a healthy alternative out of the tap is supposed to cost something like 1/100th of a cent per bottle. Noel

[SeaHunt]

Yep Noel, our kids (and some of us) have all been brain washed by TV and add companies.

[jockey]

Seahunt I agree that the sooner it runs out the better, but we will probably always need a bit. We already have the technology. It comes down to price. Wind power currently costs about three times what oil power does. But you are screwed if the wind stops blowing and it gets dark. Storing the energy probably doubles the price again. Getting renewable energy into your car will cost even more (and we probably are lacking the technology, although there are hydrogen pwoered vehicles on the market.)

The price of petrol does effect air quality, but there is a significant time delay. Where petrol is expensive, people purchase more fuel efficient cars and maintain them. Where it is cheap people buy gas guzzlers, like all the tanks you see on American streets. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen!