Fuel supplies

[Gate Keeper]

We are currently in Kenya and due to fly to South Africa in 8 days time for a month to check on the family farm in the cape.

Yesterday the President of Kenya warned fuel companies about their licences, pricing and hoarding supplies. He said he will looking at other suppliers which do not rely on the Straights. One local airline is putting up prices from 1 April because of the rise of the cost of aviation fuel.

What is it like elsewhere, is the UK or the rest of the world prepared?

[rchammer]

Apparently diesel demand might outstrip supply within a few weeks but petrol is fine because, unlike diesel, we (UK) refine enough for our own needs plus export the rest. Since prices at the pumps is in some way linked to the price of crude oil we are already seeing price increases but moreso for diesel. Jet fuel has increased dramatically but apparently we might not see too much increase on fares because airlines tend to hedge fuel prices so we may be okay until September if the war is still ongoing. Food prices are likely to rise because the increase in price of fertiliser components derived from oil and also haulage costs but most UK farmers have bought their fertiliser for this year so there will be a bit of a buffer. Our Chancellor of the Exchequer is trying to mitigate profiteering but interestingly our local ASDA fuel station is charging 17p a litre more for petrol than the ASDA fuel station a couple of miles away!

[Harold Gough]

The Chancellor is laughing all to way to the Treasury! The higher the price, the more VAT!

Harold

[Keith-369]

Just had a quick look at 'PetrolPrices.com' for my town area and the prices range from -

Unleaded Petrol is £137.9 to £156.9 per litre
Super Unleaded Petrol is £146.9 to £179.9
Diesel is £162.9 to £187.9 per litre
Premium diesel is £160.9 to £206.9

Draw your own conclusions.

[BDennis]

These inflated prices are alarming me Keith! Or should the decimal points be two places to the left

[Keith-369]

The prices alarm everybody, Bill.
Strangely, in the US, Petrol is $0.79 to $0.87 per litre. Nice to see them struggling too 😒😒

[Harold Gough]

https://www.fuel-finder.uk/?q=RG4+6LJ&lat=51.472051&lng=-0.948782&radius=10&fuel=diesel

BP are consistently distinctly more expensive for diesel around here.

Harold

[BDennis]

Our local big supermarket with the cheapest fuel has occasionally had a sign saying they’re out of petrol or diesel. I think it’s because people are topping up more often than usual - not surprising as prices are basically going in one direction: upwards.

I’ve seen some news items suggesting the UK government is thinking about enforcing lower speed limits to make people save fuel. A bit annoying for EV drivers. Just drive economically. I just switched from a diesel to a petrol hybrid car and have been running it in “eco” mode trying to maximise the mpg figures on journeys. It varies between 45 mpg and 61 mpg depending on hills, journey length etc. I have to remember to put it in the maximum regenerative braking “B” mode which annoys the tailgaters with me slowing down in advance for junctions and 30mph zones etc. Overall getting 57 mpg since the last refill. The diesel was getting 55 mpg but more expensive fuel.

Good luck with your travels Phil.

Bill

[LadyG]

I also have a hybrid. Hadn't thought about switching into Eco but have been changing to 'B' mode as I approach junctions/lower speed zones. Now that I've had the car a year I had stopped checking every time I got in the car what mpg I'm getting but perhaps the time has come to change that back!
I'd filled up just before the war began so held off for a couple of weeks - a tank usually lasts me about 3 weeks/just under 500 miles... and in that time it had gone up by 10p a litre. I was glad to have filled up at Tesco St Neots rather than my usual Sainsbury's Biggleswade because it was a few pence cheaper at the time... I felt no guilt about topping up completely because I was down to less than 100 miles. That was £1.399 last week.

[MJ224]

Yes, Phil, hope all is good in South Africa. I can see liquid fuel prices rising here in South Wales. Ironically, my electricity prices are going down in April, to the cheapest for a long time. Thus, my motoring with the EV will be even cheaper...

[MK1]

Sorry to sound smug and I really don't mean to be but: it is a good idea for me and Mrs D to be driving our E-Golf in these crazy times. We charge up at night for £0.07 per kWh and a half a full tank is 0.79p
We get currently around 150 miles from it's battery
I feel genuinely sorry for those paying these crazy fuel costs

[shenstone]

I dropped in my old land Rover for a new "sender" for the fuel gauge had stopped working... it needed to be as near as empty as possible in case the tank had to be removed (or even replaced if they found excess rust.

Well they didn't have to replace the tank which is good (the gearbox is another discussion), but I have worked out that refilling a 120ltr tank could now cost me over £200 ouch!

[Tram]

Am I right in thinking it wasn't that long ago when we were paying around £1.65 or more a litre for unleaded?
Filled up yesterday at £1.46 and I'm sure I remember it being a fair bit more than that at one stage.

[Melaka]

Yes, we were. I suspect folk are topping up more often these days in order to mitigate any price rises. We aim not to go below half a tank but as our mileage is under 3,500 per annum we're not great users. More worrying will be diesel when we start using the motor caravan.

[Tram]

Same here, for the amount we use there is no need to worry about minor increases per litre.
Only a little car and get about 50mpg, our last year's mileage was just over 2000.

[rchammer]

I went to our local Sainsbury’s earlier today and filled up whilst there because diesel was 21p a litre cheaper. It was very busy and half of the pumps were dry. It has now run out of fuel completely according to local facebook posts and also there are now reports in the press of other Sainsbury’s and other garages similarly running short of fuel due to everyone topping up

[Gate Keeper]

Sorry to sound smug and I really don't mean to be but: it is a good idea for me and Mrs D to be driving our E-Golf in these crazy times. We charge up at night for £0.07 per kWh and a half a full tank is 0.79p
We get currently around 150 miles from it's battery
I feel genuinely sorry for those paying these crazy fuel costs

You don’t sound smug at all. I’m really happy to hear that fuel prices aren’t affecting you. My main worry is not about the fuel prices in Kenya, but how the shortages might impact the tourism industry, the availability of medicine and the transport that workers, hospitals, schools, supermarkets and other places rely on.

[Gate Keeper]

Yes, Phil, hope all is good in South Africa. I can see liquid fuel prices rising here in South Wales. Ironically, my electricity prices are going down in April, to the cheapest for a long time. Thus, my motoring with the EV will be even cheaper...

Thanks, Mark! I managed to get three months’ worth of medication and fill up the 4x4 today. Word on the street is that fuel prices in the Cape are going up. Fingers crossed we’ll have enough fuel to fly back from South Africa when we need to.

What a bonus your EV is getting you through these challenging day's.

[Gate Keeper]

Our local big supermarket with the cheapest fuel has occasionally had a sign saying they’re out of petrol or diesel. I think it’s because people are topping up more often than usual - not surprising as prices are basically going in one direction: upwards.

I’ve seen some news items suggesting the UK government is thinking about enforcing lower speed limits to make people save fuel. A bit annoying for EV drivers. Just drive economically. I just switched from a diesel to a petrol hybrid car and have been running it in “eco” mode trying to maximise the mpg figures on journeys. It varies between 45 mpg and 61 mpg depending on hills, journey length etc. I have to remember to put it in the maximum regenerative braking “B” mode which annoys the tailgaters with me slowing down in advance for junctions and 30mph zones etc. Overall getting 57 mpg since the last refill. The diesel was getting 55 mpg but more expensive fuel.

Good luck with your travels Phil.

Bill

Thank you Bill.

Hybrids and electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in Kenya. In fact the public buses and taxis in the Central Business District of Nairobi are all electric a sign of the times.
I believe our next 4x4 will be an electric vehicle but for now we are making the best of driving a diesel 4x4.

Congratulations on making significant savings by running your car in Eco mode. Your comment about the government enforcing a reduction in the speed limit is thoughtful for the nation. I can appreciate how frustrating it is when you are being considerate and already making sacrifices and savings.

[Keith-369]

Got my self charging hybrid nearly four years ago and, apart from a quick trial of sports mode, have always had it on eco mode. I honestly see no reason whatsoever to have it any other way.

[Gate Keeper]

Got my self charging hybrid nearly four years ago and, apart from a quick trial of sports mode, have always had it on eco mode. I honestly see no reason whatsoever to have it any other way.

Keith, thanks for sharing your experience! It sounds like you’ve been driving your self-charging hybrid for nearly four years, and you’ve always kept it in eco mode. I can understand why you might prefer that setting. It seems like it could be a good choice for the environment, right?

[Keith-369]

To be honest, Phil, all I want is the best economy (I'm getting 48 mpg around town, not bad for a reasonable size car). I drive carefully and within the speed limits, (owing to getting caught a few years ago by a sneaky speed trap in Cumbria, known well by the locals but not by me at the time), using the engine to slow me down because I'm never up anyone's tailpipe and when braking is requires it is only gentle braking for the same reason, this of course helps to charge the battery too. The acceleration in eco mode is well good enough for anything I need, even on motorways. Simple as that, really.