36 replies to this topic

[Guess-Works.com]

Supermarket fuel is not the same as the stuff you get from BP, Esso and Shell.

I'll think you'll find that petrol has a BS kite mark, and hence all need to be up to a particular standard, so is suitable for running vehicles designed to run on the stuff...

however, I do agree that some 'mainstream' fuels seem to be better than others, but that I suspect is down to the coctail of additives.

Must admit I'm starting to feel it, as all my vehicles run on super...

However this mail just smacks of someone with a grudge against a partcular company, and if we wern't taxed so much on petrol you probably wouldn't care about the price increase... ( hence why miniboo is only paying about 75 cents (less than 40p) a litre )

[Jammy]

Supermarket fuel is not the same as the stuff you get from BP, Esso and Shell.

I'll think you'll find that petrol has a BS kite mark, and hence all need to be up to a particular standard, so is suitable for running vehicles designed to run on the stuff...

Thats true, all fuel must be up to a certain standard, but I still consider the mainstream forecourt fuel must better than the cheaper supermarket stuff. I think you get better blends of fuel from BP, Esso, Shell and the like.

[Dan]

Supermarket petrol consists of the mainstream fuel suppliers leftovers, mixed with octane boosters in big nasty vats. Because of the octane boosters it passes the tests on the day it's tested, when it's newly made but it degrades really fast. There is no actual quality to it and by the time it reaches the forecourt it's usually degraded a lot already. It has a very short shelf life compared to petrol that genuinely is up to spec and relies on the high turnover at the pump on supermarket forecourts to keep the fuel in the tanks fresh. If it sat there for a few days it would be about as potent as parafin. Sainsburys don't own an oil field.

The problem with these boycotts is that the organisers have overlooked one important fact, petrol really is cheap. It costs today roughly 25p per litre even with the high price of crude which is not a lot more than it has cost for the last 20 years. The rest of the cost is duty and tax charged on road fuel by the government. If this was a civilised country the government would allow an emergency tax reduction when the price got high to ensure we could all continue to live our lives but it isn't a civilised country, it's Britain. When the fuel producers announce an increase, they are talking in terms of perhaps 1/2 a penny a litre at the pump which when you add the roughly 350% total tax burden on road fuel becomes around 2p per litre. It's the government that are sucking all the money out of your pocket, not the fuel producers. Same with everything in Britain. We have the highest tax burden in Europe, possibly the world thanks to Mr Gordon Brown and his excellent ideas about how to run an economy over the last 10 years.

[Timtom]

Also.. Round here. ESSO is the cheapest mainstream petrol station.. (Obviously the supermarkets are cheaper) But the nearest one of them is miles away!..

[nev_payne]

As I said in the previous thread... we can rant all we want..but untill people start to p-off the police with protest signs and plakards, nothing will change.

As for the difference in price in different locations, I could understand this in a country the size of say the US or Russia...but UK?

Even in terms of a Town size the price varies! At one point we had 3 Esso stations in Taunton. One was 97p, the second was 99p, and the 3rd was £1.02! All within 3 miles of each other.

The system doesn't make any sence to me. Unfortunately most people dont even bother researching for themselves. Most people couldn't be arse'd to drive that extra half mile for both cheaper fuel and boycotting particular stations. It's this zombie like state we have put ourselves in that the petrol companies are loving.

We should be ashamed of ourselves.

[Ethel]

Boycotting Shell and Esso pumps would have an impact as they belong to the companies so they'd still see a loss even if it was partly offset by increased sales to the Supermarkets. There'll still be lots of contract and fuel card purchases to keep them happy though. Anyone know if your average service station is a franchise I guess they are.

Dan's comments about fuel quality are interesting, what happened to the substandard juice before there were supermarkets? Also the most expensive forecourts must have petrol sat in their tanks for a fair while.

[Silicon Skum]

At one point we had 3 Esso stations in Taunton. One was 97p, the second was 99p, and the 3rd was £1.02! All within 3 miles of each other

And did the third one had a small sign under the price banner, that read "Should have filled up sooner...when we first told you the price!" by any chance?

Actually that is REALLY good (?) thinking on the part of that company - by the time people reach the third petrol station, they are worried about just how expensive it's going to be further down the road.......and fill up there and then while it's "cheap".

SS

[Pie]

tesco's watered down juice

Lol what a load of rubbish. Thats like saying "nightclubs water down stella". The beer comes directly from the brewery and is sealed in a keg which cant be opened unless your attatching it to a pump.
And as for "watering down fuel" how can you do this? Next time you put fuel in your car, add about a litre of water and see what happens then!

As dan pointed out, its just leftovers mixed with octane boosters. does exactly the same job.

Seriously do people not think about what they are typing?

[Silicon Skum]

tesco's watered down juice

Lol what a load of rubbish. Thats like saying "nightclubs water down stella". The beer comes directly from the brewery and is sealed in a keg which cant be opened unless your attatching it to a pump.
And as for "watering down fuel" how can you do this? Next time you put fuel in your car, add about a litre of water and see what happens then!

As dan pointed out, its just leftovers mixed with octane boosters. does exactly the same job.

Seriously do people not think about what they are typing?

Well actually, I do know that it *IS* possible to water down beer - you know those wand dispensers they have behind the bars, you know those things they use for coke, pepsi, lemonade and water that all come out of the same tap?

Well, the coke and lemonade etc. all comes from the factory, and is sealed and is.......wait for it......concentrated......and is watered down by a mixer feed before leaving the tap. I know of a certain pub a few years ago, that had an old mixer from the wand, and hooked it up to the beer pipes.... - that pint of stella you just orderd was watered down by 20% with carbonated water! Was only watered down on a friday and saturday night (busy time, crowded pub, and mostly allready drunk - nobody could tell the difference!)

Only reason I know this, is because I worked there for a short while.


As for the petrol - No, you wouldn't use actual water (though you may be interested to know that WATER **IS** found in supermarket fuel tanks! There were some tests done a while ago that proved it). To "water" down petol you would use a hydrocarbon base stock of poor quality - white spirit, parafin etc, or just the common "sludge" left over from the reforming processes for the crude oils.

All in all though, the fuel that the supermarkets sell is not watered down as such - it's just VERY p**s poor quality. It might come from the same base stock fuel - but you try running ANY engine on that stuff without the additives........not going to happen!

SS

[Dan]

Boycotting Shell and Esso pumps would have an impact as they belong to the companies

Nope, they are franchise operations mostly. That's why you find different prices at fuel stations fairly close to each other, because they are all different companies. Esso stations in particular because they pledge to be equal in price to or cheaper than any station within 1/2 a mile meaing they often have to compete with Texaco or Fina or something, and generally don't build near supermarkets. They will sell to a garage at a cheaper rate if they have to compete with a local competitor and will pass the cost they incur in doing that on to another station that can take it. The other big contributor to price differences is delivery cost. The further your forecourt is from a refinery or a depot fed by pipeline the more it costs to get fuel to them by tanker. I know of an Esso station near Elstree that is always a lot cheaper than anywhere else locally simply because it's on one straight A road from the big depot in Hemel Hempstead (yes the one that exploded) which is no more than 20 miles away, if that and downhill all the way so it costs very little to get the tanker truck to them and it always visits them first.

[Ethel]

This is going to get way to involved for a simple whinge about fuel costs

I'm sure they're franchises based on the varied collection of over priced tat you find in the kiosks.

I'm not sure there will be a pricing policy based on distance from the depot though, I'd put forecourt prices down to the competition rural garages haven't got any so can charge more.

I wonder if garages pay for the fuel in their tanks or flog it on commision?

[Dan]

I'm sure they're franchises based on the varied collection of over priced tat you find in the kiosks.

[Mini_Magic]

I know of an Esso station near Elstree that is always a lot cheaper than anywhere else locally simply because it's on one straight A road from the big depot in Hemel Hempstead (yes the one that exploded) which is no more than 20 miles away, if that and downhill all the way so it costs very little to get the tanker truck to them and it always visits them first.

Then how come fuel is more expensive in Hemel than Watford, before or after the explosion happened?

[Dan]

Dunno mate. Different brand?

[yorkshirechris]

I went to one in North Yorkshire the other week, the normal unleaded was 107.9p.

I don't see how they can reduce the price to 69p a litre, doesn't the government take something stupid like 65p a litre in tax? Might be totally wrong but for some reason 65p a litre is in my head

I don't trust supermarket fuels, not after the dodgy batches that came out a few months ago. I always use BP, but that's because I get nectar points... I've calculated that with the amount of fuel I use in about 8 years time if I'm lucky I'll have enough points to cash in and get a free AM/FM personal radio!