Thread: Diesel prices!

Originally Posted by Discozook

The government tries to tell everyone we're still cheaper than most other places in the world. Yet diesel in the US of A is only around $1.10 - $1.12/ltr.

And according to the tele the other day 3c (thats correct) 3c a litre in Venezuela

Martyn

Anyone else note this?

Border petrol perk dries up | NEWS.com.au

Looks as if the Queensland government is about to have a go at tourists, and are prepared to live with the cost of issuing a new licence to everyone.

Of course, it will mean that non-licenced drivers will have to pay more for their fuel.

How having separate prices for residents and non-residents will fit with section 92 may be another matter, not mention how it will fit with the proposed fuel watch legislation.......

John

I pay $161 a month for my train ticket

Petrol is cheaper then less distance to travel and maintance.

Originally Posted by Discozook

The government tries to tell everyone we're still cheaper than most other places in the world. Yet diesel in the US of A is only around $1.10 - $1.12/ltr.

Price of diesel in the US varies, but according to Local News: Diesel Fuel Price Approaching $5 a Gallon | fuel, gallon, approaching :

the price in Oregon is $4.81 a gallon three days ago, which is about A$1.30 a litre, depending on what exchange rate you use. And note that this will not include state sales tax, which will add a cent or two - in the US, prices do not include state sales tax, which is usually from 1-5%. And in many cases there is a local government sales tax as well, typically of similar magnitude.

Fuel prices worldwide come mostly in three categories;-

1. Subsidised fuel prices, almost exclusively in major oil producing countries, such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela etc. This price bears no relation to the cost of the fuel, and is usually very cheap by Australian standards, although some of the countries involved have rationing or shortages and because the fuel price is "set", it is likely to change dramatically from time to time, sparking riots (as in Indonesia about a year ago - and see http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=232964). (And a reminder, that on a state level Queensland has subsidised fuel)

2. No special taxes on fuel - this includes the USA, Russia (and former Soviet states), and a few other countries, and the prices reflect the actual market value of the fuel.

3. Fuel is treated as a special case for tax purposes, with much higher tax than other commodities. The tax can whatever figure the government has dreamed up, and historically has either been a "luxury" tax from the days when car ownership was regarded as a luxury, or a road maintenance tax (or both). Most western European countries have very high fuel taxes, although some do not apply this to diesel. Australia falls into this third category, with a tax take that is moderate by European standards.

Whether Australia has low or high fuel prices depends on which country you compare it to. If you compare it to most Western European countries, it is cheap, if you compare it to the USA, it is a bit expensive, and if you compare it to countries with subsidised fuel, of course, it is very expensive. And anyone with an axe to grind can find a comparison that "proves" the point they want to make!

Hi JD & other suffering Landy diesel owners,

I bought my Disco TD5 because although TD5 cost about $4K more, I wanted the economy, torque and long life that a diesel offers, plus back in 2000 diesel was cheaper than unleaded.
Wow how times have changed! Because our fuel price is Singapore based, and Asia uses more diesel than unleaded, we are now not only subsidising our farmers, but the Asian market as well, who get first option on diesel.
The crazy thing is that Australia has some of the biggest reserves of natural gas in the world. This CNG is loaded onto bulk carriers & shipped to Asia for about 1cent /litre.
CNG is not the best option for vehicles (low calorie output compared to diesel,unleaded, LPG) but can be easily converted to high quality diesel/petrol.

Why are we importing diesel when we can make our own from CNG?

It's about time we lobbied our Federal members to get this situation reversed.

Cheers..Bruiser

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Anyone else note this?

Border petrol perk dries up | NEWS.com.au

Looks as if the Queensland government is about to have a go at tourists, and are prepared to live with the cost of issuing a new licence to everyone.

Of course, it will mean that non-licenced drivers will have to pay more for their fuel.

How having separate prices for residents and non-residents will fit with section 92 may be another matter, not mention how it will fit with the proposed fuel watch legislation.......

John

Capt Bligh always comes up with new ideas to fill her money trough!
Naturally she is not concerned with tourism and truckies...only her Government and perks!

Originally Posted by bruiser69

Hi JD & other suffering Landy diesel owners,
............we are now not only subsidising our farmers, but the Asian market as well, who get first option on diesel.
The crazy thing is that Australia has some of the biggest reserves of natural gas in the world. This CNG is loaded onto bulk carriers & shipped to Asia for about 1cent /litre.
CNG is not the best option for vehicles (low calorie output compared to diesel,unleaded, LPG) but can be easily converted to high quality diesel/petrol.

Why are we importing diesel when we can make our own from CNG?

It's about time we lobbied our Federal members to get this situation reversed.

Cheers..Bruiser

1. If we are subsidising our farmers, I want to hear about it - I haven't been!

2. CNG is not exported - Liquified Natural Gas (methane) is exported; I don't know the price off hand, but I rather doubt it is as low as 1c/l, although since it is never traded in litres, its a bit hard to say.

3. Methane can be converted to diesel or petrol together with coal or another carbon source using the Fischer-Tropsch process. It is a well established process, going back to the 1920s. To call it easy, is perhaps not quite the right word - to quote "The FT process is an established technology and already applied on a large scale in some industrial sectors, although its popularity is hampered by high capital costs, high operation and maintenance costs, the uncertain and volatile price of crude oil, and environmental concerns. In particular, the use of natural gas as a feedstock only becomes practical when using "stranded gas", i.e. sources of natural gas far from major cities which are impractical to exploit with conventional gas pipelines and LNG technology;" It has only been used to any extent in times and places where crude oil is not available for political reasons, e.g. the Third Reich and Japan during WW2, and SA under apartheid sanctions, but there is some interest today as it is easier to produce ultra low sulphur diesel this way than from a lot of crude.

It is likely that the price of crude oil is high enough to consider synthetic oil, but investors would have to be convinced it is going to stay that high before putting up the money, and I suspect that from an economic point of view, setting up a CNG distribution system (much more difficult and expensive than LPG) and directly using the gas in cars and trucks could be a better use of resources.

John

Diesel had reached $1.86.9 in Moruya.

On Friday a new Woolies servo opened, just in time for the long weekend.

It had diesel at $1.82.9.

The next day the two nearby servos had diesel at the same price.

The one at the other side of town stayed at $1.86.9.

Of course even if the Defender was down to running on only the fumes left in the tank, the difference would be about the same as the cost of one cup of coffee.

Hardly seems worth getting excited about does it?