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PETROL SET O HIT Pounds 1 A LITRE AS OIL PRICES SOAR

Posted on: Friday, 5 August 2005, 18:00 CDT

MOTORISTS today faced the threat of pump prices soaring to Pounds 1 a litre as the cost of crude oil rose to a record high.

Some garages are already charging up to 95p a litre for petrol and only fractionally under Pounds 1 a litre for diesel.

Thousands of rail passengers are also having to pay more for tickets because of rising fuel costs.

The escalating price of crude has now reached $62 a barrel and further increases are seen as inevitable. The all-time high compares with $40 a barrel a year ago.

The death of Saudi King Fahd added an extra $1.43 a barrel overnight and both the main motoring organisations warned that motorists will have to pay more. One of the

highest prices recorded is at the independent Butlers petrol station near Aldermaston, where a litre of unleaded costs 95p and diesel 99.9p - or Pounds 4.54p a gallon.

The Texaco garage in the centre of Newbury is charging 92.9p a litre for unleaded.

Many rail passengers using First Great Western (FGW), which operates into Paddington, are having to pay up to six per cent more.

Alison Forster, FGW managing director, said: "We work hard to keep our fuel costs down by hedging, or fixing, the price of our diesel in advance.

"But unfortunately even the

most aggressive negotiations with our suppliers on behalf of our customers would not be able to counteract the worldwide rise in oil prices."

FGW unrestricted open tickets have gone up by six per cent; first class season tickets by 3.2 per cent and book-inadvance tickets by 2.5 per cent.

First class season tickets on shorter distance First Great Western Link services into Paddington have risen by 3.2 per cent. Midland Mainline, which operates from St Pancras to Yorkshire and the East Midlands, says standard business tickets will rise by four and half per cent and first class by three and a half per cent from next month "as a result of rising fuel costs".

Paul Watters, director of the AA' s Motoring Trust described the fuel price situation as "worrying when we are approaching the autumn". He said summer is usually a time when crude oil is at its lowest price.

Mr Watters made a fresh plea to the Chancellor to reduce the tax on fuel which, at 67 per cent of the pump price, is the highest in Europe.

He said when the Government published its 10-year plan for transport in 2000 the "worst-case scenario" was crude oil reaching $28 a barrel.

The UK's three biggest international airlines - British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BMI - increased fuel surcharges on long-haul flights 50 per cent in June because earlier hikes in the cost of oil.

most aggressive negotiations with our suppliers on behalf of our customers would not be able to counteract the worldwide rise in oil prices."

FGW unrestricted open tickets have gone up by six per cent; first class season tickets by 3.2 per cent and book-inadvance tickets by 2.5 per cent.

First class season tickets on shorter distance First Great Western Link services into Paddington have risen by 3.2 per cent. Midland Mainline, which operates from St Pancras to Yorkshire and the East Midlands, says standard business tickets will rise by four and half per cent and first class by three and a half per cent from next month "as a result of rising fuel costs".

Paul Watters, director of the AA' s Motoring Trust, described the fuel price situation as "worrying when we are approaching the autumn". He said summer is usually a time when crude oil is at its lowest price.

Mr Watters made a fresh plea to the Chancellor to reduce the tax on fuel which, at 67 per cent of the pump price, is the highest in Europe.

He said when the Government published its 10-year plan for transport in 2000 the "worst-case scenario" was crude oil reaching $28 a barrel.

The UK's three biggest international airlines - British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BMI - increased fuel surcharges on long-haul flights by 50 per cent in June because of earlier hikes in the cost of oil.

Source: Evening Standard; London (UK)

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