Teen beauty spot drinkers are ramblers, not rebels
- Dave Burrows
Leader: Monstrous rip-off at the petrol pump
Tuesday 7th February 2012, 12:30PM GMT.
While ordinary people are cutting back on unnecessary travel because of sky high fuel prices, BP is slurping up stunning profits.
If you thought the 2010 oil rig explosion and its massive clean-up operation left BP a diminished company, then think again. Last year it raked in profits of almost £24 billion dollars.
These have been boosted by the high price of oil, that product which is the lifeblood of Western economies.
In the same way that bankers’ bonuses are an obscenity at a time of recession, these profits are outrageous.
A visit to the filling station these days makes a very big dent in the take home pay of working people.
Were the profits the product of efficient working practices, enterprise and imagination, they would be easier to stomach. The truth is that the oil companies have got us all over a barrel – an oil barrel, to be precise – and the system is run as a cartel which is bordering on extortion.
And do not expect George Osborne to be in the head of the queue calling for something to be done. The one thing that can be said in favour of these profits is that the oil firms pay handsomely in taxes, and so when Mr Osborne sees figures like these, pound signs appear in his eyes as he prepares for more money to come in to the Treasury.
We all want businesses to be successful, but BP’s good year smacks of profiteering.
It has been built on the back of millions of consumer victims, who have had no choice but to pay up.
If the oil industry was truly competitive, BP, flush with cash, would now be looking to cut its prices to achieve market advantage.
Some hope.
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We’re too dependent on fossil fuels. Alternatives have been on the table for many years, but their progress keeps on hitting barriers. I wonder how many anti windfarm and anti biomass protesters wince every time they fill up.
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Biomass is extremely useful and it was a pity the local project didn’t go ahead. There is very little smell as the gas is contained. Pity we are going to be lumped with a CO2 emitting burner. Wind Farms only generate at about 25% efficiency and are a blot on the landscape. Small scale hydro is far more efficient.
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Stop buying BP petrol – and put the profit into someone else’s hands? The target for this ire is not BP or any other fuel supplier, but the Government level of duty and taxation. It’s all very well for the ministerial limos, whose passengers do not foot the fuel bills, but as you say, not much fun for Joe Public.
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All oil corporations are on the ear’ole, time to find an alternative to fossil fuels
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I hope no-one thinks that it’s the Government who runs the country when in fact they merely manage it with corporate permission. And now that political ideology is dead in the water you can bet that the next coming wars, liberations and invasions are really about energy ‘acquirement’ however they are sold to us.
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A nice quote from a sociologist friend…. whoever is in government the Tories are always in power.
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This is a prime example of the current mess the UK economy is now in. Having run down our manufacturing resources over the last 30 years we now have to rely on banking, oil & property speculation to be the lifeblood of the economy, with little evidence of anything else of real substance being able to get things moving again. Unfortunately this has resulted in banks & oil companies growing to such an unprecidented size & financial power that they now seem to call the shots & have in effect, become more powerful than governments. Sure they bring in massive tax revenues but as a country it’s shameful that these institutions seem to be able to set the agenda & trot out when it suits them, the threats to leave the UK taking with them their invaluable ‘expertise’ & revenue for the exchequer.
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Monsterous? Please get someone to fix your spellchecker.
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Pedantry isn’t pretty. I wonder if you understand what the word means.
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Is it like pedestrainry in ill fitting attire – because you cannot afford the fuel?
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Petrol is a loss leader for most oil companies. They make pennies of profit per litre as up to 70% of the cost is tax. Much more profit is made from retailing in the shops and non automotive uses of oil such as plastics and cosmetics.
High prices at the pump are to do with levels of tax not oil company profits. Saying that, motorway services are a complete rip off, hence the current investigation by government into their pricing structure.
The government should also look into the way franchise operators and independant garages are treated by fuel firms. They have to pay a much higher price per delivery but are often tied into complex contracts. Often this is similar to the way Pubcos treat their licensees.
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Let me get this straight, BP should use what remains of its profits (after shareholder dividend) to cut its pump prices?
To do that it would have to scrap a good bit of its investment in prospecting (which is where most of its profit currently goes).
Apart from their share price falling quickly, which would certainly diminish them as a company, OPEC would struggle to keep oil output stable, which means the price of crude will increase, which means the price of petrol will increase. Yeah, great suggestion. Any more pearls of wisdom you’d like to share?
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Petrol expensive??
Someone with too much time on their hands, calculated that Evian water, @ £1-49 for 9oz, comes out at £21-19 per gallon. WATER.
Printing ink, at high street prices works out at £5,200-00 per gallon.
Someone’s going to tell me to get a job now.
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Many thanks for the info on alternative vehicle fuel sources Colin – you forgot to compare Royal Begula Caviar, gold, frankincense, myrrh and rocking horse dung.
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