Weak currency to blame for motorists paying 5p more at the pumps
Press Release posted 16th October, 2008
16th October 2008
(Aldershot, UK) UK motorists are paying up to 5p more at the pumps because of the weakness of the pound against the dollar, PetrolPrices.com has discovered.
If the exchange rate was still $2 to the pound, petrol retailers would have room to drop the price of unleaded to just 95p a litre*. That would save the average motorist £10** a month.
However, as a result of the weaker pound UK retailers are paying as much as £6 more for a barrel of oil.
Britain buys its oil in dollars, but because our currency is worth less than in recent times, our pounds don’t buy as much as they used to. £1 now buys $1.7, but just 3 months ago we could buy $2 with £1.
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has today criticised petrol stations for not dropping their prices quickly enough in response to falling oil prices.
He said: “It is encouraging that we have seen petrol prices fall in the UK in recent days, with some supermarkets and retailers reducing their prices below £1 a litre. But I would like to see other retailers following that lead.”
PetrolPrices.com supports his comments, but he appears to have overlooked the government’s role in reducing fuel prices.
“The exchange rate is effectively an assessment of the strength of the UK economy by the world markets. The government is playing a vital role in this with its response to the banking crises.”
“I’m concerned that the full implications of the bailout plans won’t become apparent until it’s too late. Our currency is weakening as world markets lose faith in the strength of our economy, relative to the US. This means we pay more for fuel. We’re getting a raw deal compared to Americans – not even accounting for our higher fuel taxes.”
“Nationalising the losses and privatising profits needs to be avoided at all costs to preserve a strong pound and cheaper fuel, but it seems that that’s the route we’re going down. If this keeps happening we could see massive inflation next year, sending the price at the pumps up again.”
~ Brendan McLoughlin, Founder, PetrolPrices.com.
You can see the comments from PetrolPrices.com users, and up to date results of our latest user poll here:
http://www.petrolprices.com/blog/petrol-drops-below-a-litre-103.html
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Notes to editors
*Based on:
| Date | GBPUSD | Oil Price ($) |
|---|---|---|
| 14/07/08 | 1.998 | 145.16 |
| 16/10/08 | 1.7208 | 73.5 |
**Based on 55 litre car filling up 4 times a month.
Where possible, please link to PetrolPrices.com in online articles.
Prices are updated each weekday between 11am and 12pm. Prices are collected the previous day using fuel card transactions in petrol stations to gather an average price for each station.
Petrolprices.com is the only free fuel price comparison website with reliable data and regular updates. It allows consumers to search for the cheapest stations in their area, with potential savings of 17p a litre.
PetrolPrices.com has over 2.6 million registered users, and 87% of 5000 users surveyed in September 2007 claimed the site saves them over £100 per year. As fuel prices rise the potential savings grow because the spread between the lowest and highest prices stations widens.
PetrolPrices.com is one of 100 money-saving websites from www.Fubra.com. Check out our house price sites – www.OurProperty.co.uk and www.HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
If you would like fuel price data, including local info, please contact us.
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Louise Doherty
Spokesperson
PetrolPrices.com
e:
w: www.petrolprices.com
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