Petrol price moving on up Companies announced the price rises as talks began between the road haulage industry and the government over hauliers' demands for a cut in fuel duty and vehicle excise tax Petrol prices have risen for the first time since the fuel protests. Some retailers have increased the price of unleaded fuel by 2p and diesel has soared even higher, up by 4p from some suppliers.

The rises, which have been blamed on the continuing high price of crude oil, came as Ministers met with both freight and farming representatives in London to discuss Britain's fuel prices.

The decision responded to firmer refined oil product prices on world markets but coincided with efforts by road hauliers and farmers to step up a campaign for lower energy taxes.

Companies announced the price rises as talks began between the road haulage industry and the government over hauliers' demands for a cut in fuel duty and vehicle excise tax.

Anger over fuel prices helped swell support for an energy tax revolt by hauliers and farmers in September that brought Britain to a halt through blockades of refineries and depots.

Royal Dutch/Shell said it would raise pump prices for petrol and diesel by two pence per litre with immediate effect, pushing premium unleaded petrol to a typical price of 81.9 pence a litre and diesel to a typical price of 83.9 pence a litre.

"Over the past two years we've made zero retail margins in the UK, margins have been wafer-thin," a Shell spokesman said.

"We've just decided this morning to increase our prices," he added, saying the increase took effect "as of now" as soon as Shell's petrol stations can be notified.

A spokesman for Esso, Britain's biggest fuel retailer, said prices at some of its outlets "may have gone up following the movements of our competitors."

He added Esso's pump prices were adjusted daily based on observation of price trends at about 10,000 rival stations.

The company wanted to position its prices among the lowest locally.

Esso was one of several firms including Conoco, which owns the Jet network, and TotalFinaElf to reverse price hikes made at the height of the protests in September.

On Thursday several other oil companies and supermarket retailers of fuel also said they were pushing up prices.

BP Amoco, Britain's second biggest fuel retailer, said it too had put its prices up by two pence a litre to a typical 81.9 pence for petrol and about 82.3 pence for diesel.

Texaco said that as a result of adjustments at some of its sites its average petrol pump price had risen to 79.9 pence a litre and its average diesel prices to 81.9 pence.

Supermarket chains Tesco and Safeway also increased prices at their retail outlets.

Tesco said its petrol prices had been increased to 79.9 pence from 77.9-78.9 pence, while diesel had gone up to 81.9 pence from 79.9-80.9 pence a litre.

Safeway's supply director, Lawrence Christensen, said: "When the price of crude goes up we have no option but to put up petrol prices."

http://itn.co.uk/news/20001019/business/11petrol.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 19, 2000