Posted on 01/20/2006 5:48:22 PM PST by blam
Petrol prices 'to rise steeply until spring'
By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor
(Filed: 21/01/2006)
Motorists should be braced for yet more steep rises in the price of petrol over the coming months, the AA Motoring Trust warned yesterday.
The cost of a litre of unleaded was likely to rise above 90p within weeks and could well shoot up further, a spokesman said.
The warning came as the trust published a report into the spiralling cost of fuel. Petrol and diesel prices started the New Year about 10p per litre higher than in January 2005, it said.
With the average family's annual fuel use up by 45 litres, budgets will remain "under heavy strain". "The rising cost of crude oil and the prospect of political pressure on Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil producer, does not augur well for the cost of car fuel this year," said Ruth Bridger, an analyst for the AA Trust.
"Oil market speculators showed themselves to be extremely jittery last year and motorists must expect crude oil and car fuel prices to be very volatile."
The average petrol price at the start of the month was 89.4p per litre compared with 79.6p at the start of 2005. Diesel prices averaged 93.5p per litre as opposed to 84.8p at the same time last year.
The average petrol bill for a typical two-car family has risen by £340 over the past year, the AA said.
Whew. Glad my car uses gasoline instead of that petrol stuff.
One litre at 0.90 UK Pound Sterling is equivalent to US$ 1.84 per liter or 1.84 * (3.785 liters/gallon) = US$ 6.95 per gallon
No wonder the Brits are talking about 'fast-tracking' nuclear reactors.
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