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Petrol Prices Hit Record High
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Petrol prices have reached a new record level today, hitting 137.44 pence a litre.

The latest increase has seen the price of unleaded rise by just over three pence since the start of the year addding £1.50 to the cost of filling a family car.

This time last year, unleaded was seven pence a litre cheaper and filling up £3.50 less.
The owner of an average family car with a 50-litre tank is now paying £68.72 to fill up; owners of some larger "Chelsea Tractors" will have to find more than £100.

Motorists are likely to face even higher prices within weeks the industry warned, with unleaded bursting past the 142 pence a litre barrier and diesel up to nearly 150 pence.

With the Chancellor set to increase fuel duty in August by around three pence, drivers could be having to find at least another £4 to fill up the tank of a family car by the end of the summer. » | David Millward, Transport Editor | Friday, March 02, 2012

My comment:

This is scandalous! But we shouldn't be surprised. Osborne has already told us that the government is skint; so he's looking for ways to increase the tax burden. He's shameless! I wouldn't trust that man further than I could throw him. – © Mark

This comment appears here, too.

Pain at the Pump
Feb 25 - As Americans head out this weekend they'll notice it is costing a lot more to fill up their gas tanks as oil prices sit near $100 a barrel. Conway Gittens reports

Fresh Profiteering Row as Petrol Prices Hit New Record High
THE TELEGRAPH: Petrol prices have hit a new record high, despite a fall in the wholesale cost paid by super-markets and forecourts, triggering fresh accusations of profiteering.

According to the AA, motorists are now paying 121.61 pence for a litre of unleaded, compared to 109.88 on January 1. This has added just under £6 to the cost of filling an average car such as a Vauxhall Astra.

Diesel has risen from 111.52p at the start of January to 123.03p now, a rise of more than 11 pence.

While British motorists have seen no end in sight to the inexorable rise in pump prices, their counterparts on the continent have seen the cost of filling a car fall by as much as two per cent over the last week. Read more about the rip-off >>> David Millward, Transport Editor | Friday, May 14, 2010

Petrol to Hit 120p a Litre, as Motorists 'Mugged' by Oil Companies
THE TELEGRAPH: Petrol is due to hit a record of 120p a litre in a matter of days, even though the price of oil is little more than half the levels it was at its peak, the AA motoring group has warned.

Petrol could soon hit 120p a litre, the AA said. Photograph: The Telegraph
Senior MPs and motoring groups said that oil companies were "mugging motorists on the forecourt" and urged Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, to delay next month's planned increase in petrol duty as well as investigate why drivers were paying so much.

The average petrol price across the country is 115.9p for a litre of unleaded and 116.6p for a litre of diesel, according to Petrolprices.com. However, the Treasury is due to add a further 3p on April 1.

Even without this increase the price at forecourts is due to hit 120p very soon, according to the AA. This would overtake the previous high of 119.7p, which motorists suffered from in July 2008.

At the time the high price of petrol was blamed on the surging price of crude oil, the key raw material in petrol, which within weeks of the record petrol price hit its own record of $147 a barrel.

However, crude oil is now $78 a barrel and there are more than 250 petrol stations charging more than 120p a litre for unleaded and diesel.

Lindsay Hoyle, the senior Labour MP on the Business Select Committee, said: "This is a complete disgrace. Yes, crude oil has gone up this year, but nothing like the rise in petrol prices. Motorists are being legally mugged at the forecourt by petrol companies." >>> Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | Monday, March 15, 2010