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Post by lennie on Jul 11, 2006 18:22:41 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]This report just in: -[/glow]
'Desperate' motorists stealing petrol as costs rise
Police fear that a rise in the cost of fuel has led to an increase in the theft of petrol from service stations in New South Wales.
In one case in south-western Sydney, police say the driver of a four-wheel drive has filled up five times and failed to pay for the fuel on each occasion.
Police have suggested motorists be made to pay for fuel before they fill the tank.
Liverpool Local Area Command's acting superintendent Nick Bingham says police have found that thieves often put stolen number plates on vehicles before going to fill up.
"They're taking them from car parks and even from people's homes and putting them on cars, going in, filling up having a stolen number plate on and then just driving off," he said.
Acting Police Minister Frank Sartor says about 30 motorists per day are stealing petrol in New South Wales.
He is calling on the Federal Government to reduce taxes on petrol.
"There is an increasing number of motorists who drive off without paying for their petrol," he said.
"Why? Because they're desperate, because petrol prices are so high.
"And the point that we make in New South Wales is that the Federal Government has to address this, it has to look at the $7 billion it gets from petrol excise, it has to look at what it can do to reduce petrol prices."
But the Howard Govt won't. They now even want to increase tax on bio-diesel.
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Post by lennie on Jul 14, 2006 5:29:38 GMT -5
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Post by tommygun on Jul 30, 2006 14:58:35 GMT -5
Every day, 15 million barrels of oil pass in tankers through the narrow Straits of Hormuz, in the troubled waters between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US Government could wipe out the need for all their 5 million barrels [from the Middle East] by requiring its domestic automobile industry to increase the fuel-efficiency of cars and light trucks by a mere 2.7 miles per gallon. Why Dont they ?  |
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Post by lennie on Aug 3, 2006 5:49:09 GMT -5
Laws prevent petrol profiteering crackdown: ACCCA Senate inquiry into petrol pricing has heard Australia's consumer watchdog does not have powers to prosecute for price gouging or profiteering because the practices are not illegal.
read more here: -www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1705510.htm
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Post by buzz on Aug 3, 2006 19:15:27 GMT -5
Lennie How would you feel if the food growers of Australia announced a 100% increase in the price of their produce because they feared a drought in the next 20 years or so. Same scenario being played out now with oil. No different.
As for water. It is not possible for most people around the world to store enough. Even if they could, parasites would have their way and Governments would be encouraged to TAX the stored amount. Just like our farmers are taxed on their dams
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Post by smartip on Aug 3, 2006 19:19:39 GMT -5
Buzz There is one fundamental difference between water and oil.
Water is everywhere ... ie the oceans and rivers are still there when I last checked. If you use water, and flush it down, you can use recycling, desalination or other means to replenish supply within a couple weeks. The reason for this is that in most cases it there is not any chemical change in the water when it is used. Take a look a how Paris, the paper industry, or the desalination plants in the Middle East.
2. On the other hand once you burn oil you can't quite just take C02 out of the air and turn it back into oil. It takes a couple million years to form ... and when it is gone ... well its gone for that length of time.
So buzz the high oil prices are probably a good thing in the long run ie. this century.
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Post by lennie on Aug 4, 2006 2:21:07 GMT -5
Lennie How would you feel if the food growers of Australia announced a 100% increase in the price of their produce because they feared a drought in the next 20 years or so. Same scenario being played out now with oil. No different. As for water. It is not possible for most people around the world to store enough. Even if they could, parasites would have their way and Governments would be encouraged to TAX the stored amount. Just like our farmers are taxed on their dams All the more reason to fund and explore alternatives. |
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Post by Flash on Aug 4, 2006 13:35:57 GMT -5
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Post by Flash on Aug 6, 2006 14:25:42 GMT -5
Alan talking to Paul Sheean on 2GB makes a good point. that this thirsty world is running dry  The world's biggest oil company, Exxon Mobil, made a profit of $A13.6 billion last quarter. That works out at $54 billion a year, or $1 billion profit a week. Last week, all five global oil giants reported their quarterly results and all told the same story: Royal Dutch $9.5 billion profit (up 40 per cent); BP $9.5 billion (up 30 per cent); ConocoPhillips, $6.8 billion (up 65 per cent); and Chevron, $5.7 billion (up 19 per cent). That's a collective quarterly profit of $45 billion - almost $3.5 billion a week. The announcements came at exactly the same time that the coast of Lebanon was being despoiled by a large oil spill after Israel bombed a power plant near Beirut. As if the only true democracy in the Arab world needed another catastrophe. The symbolism speaks for itself. All this at a time when the world is paying record oil prices, fuel production is experiencing bottlenecks caused by a shortage of oil refineries, which suggests Big Oil must have good reasons not to expand supply. And the high cost of oil - required in the production and supply of nearly everything we buy - has rippled through the global economy, pushing up inflation and interest rates. "Our society is in a state of collective denial that has no precedent in history, in terms of its scale and implication," writes scientist Jeremy Leggett in a book, Half Gone (2005), about the imminent arrival of "peak oil", when global oil reserves begin to run down. Half Gone argues that "peak oil" has already arrived, and we are not prepared for the consequences. Even if Leggett has overstated his case, innumerable scientific reports have urged the need for a move away from oil dependence. In 2004 a unit of the United States Department of Energy warned: "A serious supply-demand discontinuity [shortage] could lead to worldwide economic chaos." Yet there remains a breathtaking gap between the rhetoric of the war on terrorism and the absence of common sense. As Leggett writes: "Of America's current daily consumption of 20 million barrels, 5 million are imported from the Middle East, where almost two-thirds of the world's oil reserves lie in a region of especially intense and long-lived conflicts. "Every day, 15 million barrels of oil pass in tankers through the narrow Straits of Hormuz, in the troubled waters between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US Government could wipe out the need for all their 5 million barrels [from the Middle East] by requiring its domestic automobile industry to increase the fuel-efficiency of cars and light trucks by a mere 2.7 miles per gallon Leave it in the ground !!!! Use OTHER forms of energy for Transport |
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Post by lennie on Aug 7, 2006 6:27:10 GMT -5
Coalition rules out cutting petrol exciseThe federal Coalition partyroom meeting has ended without coming up with a solution to high petrol prices. Many MPs and senators say their constituents are angry about the extra dollars they have to spend because petrol costs have risen so much. But, in their first gathering since the winter break, they have decided there is little the Federal Government can do to ease the pain. The meeting has endorsed Prime Minister John Howard's view that cutting excise would be too expensive and would not work if world oil prices rose again, negating the cut. The Family First party insists the Government should cut the excise but Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has also argued against that. Greens Senator Christine Milne says the Coalition should be making major changes to make Australia less dependent on oil. "Immediately take the GST off public transport - that would help the poor in Australia and it would also help in terms of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions," she said. "We need to see a rebate for those people who wish to convert their cars from petrol to LPG and natural gas. "That would make a big difference." The meeting also looked at the issue of energy more broadly, including alternative sources of fuel. What a load of crap John Howard and 'Measley Beazley's' attitude isn't much better. It's all about greed.
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Post by Flash on Aug 10, 2006 1:54:54 GMT -5
Small commuter cars with a maximum speed of say 80 km and a maximum range of 100-200 kilometers are perfectly feasible on compressed air. But don't expect to tow the family caravan or boat. Current technology would provide for a very small commuter car only. www.theaircar.com/ Here's some newer technology using liquid nitrogen: www.aa.washington.edu/aerp/CRYOCAR/CryoCar.htm |
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Post by lennie on Aug 10, 2006 7:22:03 GMT -5
This problem shows no signs of getting any better, to the contrary, they are now claiming Petrol will be $1.80 per litre by Christmas. John Howard claims it is his biggest political worry and so he should.
About the only ones winning out of it all are the Oil Companies and Federal Treasury. Measley Beazley is now turning a blind eye to the situation, how dare he.
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Post by lennie on Aug 23, 2006 7:32:20 GMT -5
NRMA backs Iemma's ethanol planThe NRMA has endorsed the New South Wales Government's move to mandate the use of 10 per cent ethanol blended petrol by 2011. The NSW Premier says he is establishing a task force to work through all the unresolved issues surrounding ethanol blended fuel. Morris Iemma says the transition to ethanol could lower fuel prices, reduce greenhouse gases and provide jobs in regional areas. NRMA director Graham Blight says drivers will accept ethanol blended fuel when they are fully informed. "I think there's been a lot of publicity in the past that's scared people and I don't think that's the situation any longer," he said. "I think that the car manufacturers, the fuel people and the motoring organisations are now at the stage where they're quite happy about saying to people - use ethanol, check with your manufacturer, but let's get out and use [it]. "Because we have to think of an alternative fuel strategy in this country." and we no longer have the luxury of choice 
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Post by lennie on Aug 28, 2006 18:11:14 GMT -5
Watchdog claims proof of petrol rip-offA Queensland watchdog on petrol prices says it has proof some Australians are being ripped off by oil companies. Fueltrac says oil prices fell sharply two weeks ago, but the correct discount has not been passed on to motorists. Spokesman Geoff Trotter says he has been timing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to see how long it takes them to act - and so far the body has remained silent. He says the pump price for unleaded fuel in Queensland is averaging $1.24 per litre when it should be closer to $1.17. "The Singapore unleaded price has fallen dramatically - it is about A$14 a barrel, which translates to nine cents a litre," he said. "So anywhere in the country over the last two weeks people should have had by now a saving at the pump price in the order of eight or nine cents a litre. "So we have got pockets around Australia that are really being ripped off by these oil companies." THE WAR TAX?
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Post by lennie on Sept 14, 2006 2:19:18 GMT -5
Petrol prices 'more worrying' than ratesfrom ABC OnlineA new survey shows more people are worried about a rise in petrol prices rather than another interest rate hike. The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research has surveyed 1,200 people to see whether they expect inflation to increase this year. In August, most respondents believed the inflation rate would be above expectations at 4.2 per cent. But this month most believed the inflation rates would stay within the Reserve Bank's target of 2 per cent to 3 per cent. Lei Lei Song, from the institute, says people are feeling more optimistic since petrol prices declined. "We did ask an extra question, to ask people whether they worry more about petrol price increase or worry more about interest rate rise," Dr Song said. "It's interesting that half of the people are worried more about the petrol prices." Of course they're more bloody worried about the Petrol Prices, they've knocked the backside out of the average "Aussies" back pocket. Mind you, it has just gone down 10 cents a litre here on the Border.
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Post by lennie on Dec 6, 2006 4:34:38 GMT -5
Here on the Border petrol prices went up around 5 cents a litre last weekend. Lets watch the beuracracy of the Govt and the Oil Companies sneak it up prior to Christmas. They'll find a method and a lame excuse to do so.
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Post by ford fan on Dec 19, 2006 2:04:18 GMT -5
Here on the Border petrol prices went up around 5 cents a litre last weekend. Lets watch the beuracracy of the Govt and the Oil Companies sneak it up prior to Christmas. They'll find a method and a lame excuse to do so. Prices in the country are around the $1.20 per litre range and rising. The Govt sure knows how to keep it's promise of making megabucks out of us the minute a holiday period comes along. |
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Post by lennie on Jan 15, 2007 20:35:34 GMT -5
Watchdog demands drop in petrol prices
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is calling on oil companies to lower their petrol prices.
ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel says while international oil prices have dropped, Australian petrol prices remain high.
Mr Samuel says he has given the oil companies a week to lower their prices.
"I think what we can do is ask hard questions of them and expose some of the answers out into the public arena," he said.
Mr Samuel says while pressure can be applied, he does not have the power to regulate oil prices.
"But I think the last thing that any state or federal government would want to do is to start regulating petrol prices," he said.
"That would inevitably mean that consumers would start paying more for their petrol than they currently pay."
Mr Samuel says he thinks motorists have been paying up to 10 cents too much per litre with current prices.
Benchmark
He says the international benchmark set by Singapore crude oil is going down but Australian prices are remaining high.
"The correlation's not occurring at the present time," he said.
"We've seen a significant drop in the Singapore price; we're not seeing a similar drop occur in Australia.
"We'd expect that to be correcting itself over the next few days.
"If it's not, we've got some pretty hard questions to be asking of the oil companies."
Mr Samuel says international prices out of Singapore have dropped, and when that happens prices normally fall in Australia within 10 days.
"[The oil companies] claim consistently, and indeed over the past 24 hours have been claiming, that their prices in Australia are set in accordance with the international benchmark of Singapore," he said.
"If that's the case then they ought to be setting their prices in accordance with that benchmark and not letting the benchmark run away from them."
New South Wales Transport Minister John Watkins has welcomed the call for lower petrol prices, but says it has taken a long time for the ACCC to react.
"[Mr Samuel is] now saying he's going to take some action - well I welcome that, but we'll be keeping them honest on this," he said.
"If next week he hasn't taken action against the major oil companies for ripping off hard-working families, well the ACCC will really be subject to a lot of questions by the communities of Australia."
Motorists 'ripped off'
NRMA president Alan Evans has welcomed the ACCC's move, saying motorists have been paying high prices for petrol for too long.
"We believe that it's quite a clear message from Graeme Samuel, the head of the ACCC, that oil companies' days of ripping motorists off might be numbered," he said.
"We've been campaigning for two years to get the ACCC to take action - we welcome this intervention by Graeme Samuel.
"Motorists have been ripped off by the oil companies quite substantially over the last couple of years and it's about time they were called to account."
RACQ spokesman Gary Fites says Queensland drivers should be expecting to pay under $1 per litre for petrol this week.
"I think it's a sad reflection on what's happening at the moment that we are paying more for petrol now in Brisbane then we were a month before Christmas when oil prices were higher than they are now," he said.
Mr Fites says there is no doubt something fishy is going on among the oil companies.
"One would hope and trust that they won't get away with it so easily with the ACCC and particularly if the Federal Government backs their agency in this regard politically to bring the oil companies to account," he said.
"We want them to start moving and start pitching those petrol prices at a fair and reasonable level."
More power
Mr Evans says the ACCC needs more powers to deal with oil companies.
"We believe the ACCC does need enhanced powers to make sure they keep the oil companies in line," he said.
"It's a difficult situation at the moment but I think the oil companies will respond to this because the last thing they want is the ACCC having more powers to keep them in line and make them provide fair prices for petrol for all motorists and the community."
The executive director of Western Australia's Motor Trade Association, Peter Fitzpatrick, has echoed the call for the Federal Government to give the ACCC more power.
Mr Fitzpatrick says the oil companies have been slow to pass on lower prices, but the ACCC lacks any real power to act against them.
"The ACCC always tends to huff and puff about these things," he said.
"It needs some clear direction from the Federal Government to be able to act.
"At this stage it has limited powers, and the Federal Government probably needs to give it the power to examine these things a bit more thoroughly."
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Post by lennie on Jan 15, 2007 20:36:54 GMT -5
Caltex denies petrol prices too high
Oil company Caltex has rejected suggestions that petrol prices have been too high recently.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Graham Samuel has called on the oil companies to lower their prices, saying that while international markets have fallen, Australian prices have stayed high.
Mr Samuel says Australians have been paying up to 10 cents a litre too much for their fuel.
Caltex spokesman Richard Beattie says petrol prices will come down in Australia, but there is a lag time between international and domestic markets.
"Price movements over any short period of time might not exactly match what happens over the longer period," he said.
"But when you have a look at the longer period, I have no doubt that the Australian pump prices will be following the international prices."
Mr Beattie says Caltex will maintain its methods of calculating its fuel price.
"The suggestion that prices are unreasonably high is not taking into account the outlook for Caltex's profit," he said.
"We announced that we'd be making 2.2 cents a litre in 2006.
"Nobody would say that that was an unreasonable amount of money to be paying."
Mr Samuel has said he has given companies one week to lower prices before he starts asking hard questions.
Independent service station operators say the ACCC needs to look at petrol prices set by oil companies, not at individual operators.
Service Station Association spokesman Colin Long says independent retailers get very little say on the price.
"Now the industry is the oil companies, that's where he's got to start," he said.
"He can't be going up and down the street talking to individual retail outlets, which is ridiculous.
"It'll be the oil companies and that's where, that's where you've got to start.
"They've got to explain to the public why the wholesale price has not changed, given the fall in the crude."
Adelaide prices
South Australia's motorists' organisation, the RAA, says the price of unleaded petrol in SA needs to fall by up to four cents per litre today to keep in line with falling world oil prices.
RAA senior analyst Hamilton Calder says the average price this morning is around $1.09 per litre, but it should be around $1.05.
But Mr Calder says Adelaide is responding better to the falling world fuel prices than other states.
"The industry in South Australia has done a better job than the rest of Australia," he said.
"We've seen the Adelaide unleaded petrol prices have in the last week been about five, six, seven cents a litre lower than other capital cities."
Mr Calder says South Australian petrol retailers still need to do more.
"Prices in Adelaide need to be around $1.05 by today and then close to or below $1 a litre for unleaded petrol by early next week," he said.
RACQ spokesman Gary Fites says Queensland drivers should be expecting to pay under $1 per litre for petrol this week.
"I think it's a sad reflection on what's happening at the moment that we are paying more for petrol now in Brisbane then we were a month before Christmas when oil prices were higher than they are now," he said.
Mr Fites says there is no doubt something fishy is going on among the oil companies.
New South Wales Transport Minister John Watkins has welcomed the call for lower petrol prices, but says it has taken a long time for the ACCC to react.
"[Mr Samuel is] now saying he's going to take some action - well I welcome that, but we'll be keeping them honest on this," he said.
"If next week he hasn't taken action against the major oil companies for ripping off hard-working families, well the ACCC will really be subject to a lot of questions by the communities of Australia."
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Post by ppyenews on Jan 16, 2007 5:56:31 GMT -5
Welcome to Talkback Topic – I’m Phillip Pye If you’ve happened to pull up at a Petrol Bowser in the last few days with the thought that the price would have dropped as a result of lower Oil Prices at the moment you would have obviously received a rude shock. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Graeme Samuel says while international oil prices have dropped, Australian petrol prices remain high. The oil companies claim consistently that their prices in Australia are set in accordance with the international benchmark of Singapore. That being the case they ought to be setting their prices in accordance with that benchmark but they are not, particularly when that price has reduced. Oil company Caltex has rejected suggestions that petrol prices have been too high recently. Caltex spokesman Richard Beattie says petrol prices will come down in Australia, but there is a lag time between international and domestic markets. His excuse is that price movements over any short period of time might not exactly match what happens over the longer period. The problem there though is that the Oil Companies are very quick to increase prices when an overseas increase happens, almost instantly in fact. The NRMA says oil companies should be ashamed of the price Australian motorists are having to pay for petrol. NRMA president Alan Evans says oil company executives have a lot to answer for, and says - "If they're not embarrassed they should be. Major supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths have been accused of contributing to the high cost of petrol. The NRMA says the supermarkets are reducing competition by squeezing independent chains out of the marketplace. It has called on the ACCC to take a greater role in scrutinising the supermarkets to ensure motorists are getting a fair deal. At the end of the day though much of the decision comes back to the Federal Government who seem to consistently allow the Oil Companies to run their own race. I guess the price of petrol is of little relevance to them as it is simply just another pawn in a long list of ‘Milch Cows’. The ACCC as a consumer watchdog is only effective to a point. They can jump up and down till the cows come home but they cannot force the oil companies to reduce their prices. If the Government took control and regulated the fuel industry havoc would prevail as the Government is not commercially geared to control such a situation. There is no simple answer to this problem as the oil companies are allowed to do what they like, and get away with it. It is time the ACCC were given greater powers, after all, that’s why they were formed in the first place. I’m Phillip Pye. |
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Post by lennie on Jan 19, 2007 0:33:40 GMT -5
Oil price drops below $US50
Analysts are predicting a correction to the price of crude oil after it dropped below $US50 per barrel.
Prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange have dropped to their lowest level in more than 18 months.
At one stage, crude oil futures dipped as low as $US49.90.
John Young from investment firm Wilson HTM says a milder winter in the US has reduced demand for crude oil.
"Demand for heating oil has dropped, crude inventories have risen, so prices have dropped on the back of that," he said.
"It's in my view a relatively temporary effect.
"My personal view is that we'll see higher oil prices later in the year.
"I think there'll be some correction from where we are now."
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Post by ppyenews on Apr 4, 2007 6:24:34 GMT -5
Welcome to ‘Talkback Topic’ – I’m Phillip Pye.
It is Easter again and we are it seems, in for a repeat of the age old argument of the inconvenience of petrol price rises. Nobody could be blamed for being the slightest bit curious as to why petrol prices seem to rise right on holiday times despite complete denial from the Oil Companies that they do. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have expressed concern about the behaviour of petrol prices in the pre-Easter period. ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, today claimed that there are three factors which explain the price rises around Australia: the normal weekly jump, a rise in world prices of about 1 to 2c a litre, and an additional amount which oil companies appear to have added to prices this Easter.
The fact that an additional amount has been added is confirmed by a study of the gap between retail prices in capital cities and international prices, as measured by the 'import parity indicator' which is the best, most relevant measure of international prices for Australia. The ACCC has measured the average margin between the peak price at the top of the weekly price cycle and international prices, and found that the margin being applied at Easter is much greater than the margin that has been applied for the previous peaks since the beginning of the year. As an example, in Melbourne on Thursday at 11 a.m. the average retail price of petrol was 93.3c a litre, which is 3.18c per litre higher than the international price indicator, however, the average margin for the past nine jumps this year was 2.07c a litre. In other words, the difference is 1.11c per litre.
Caltex Australia however says that it is a myth petrol prices jump because of holidays, irrespective of appearing to prepare motorists for a hike at the bowser this Easter. The oil giant has apparently decided attack is the best form of defence, denying allegations of public holiday petrol price gouging before they are even made. A week before the Easter holiday period starts on April 6, Caltex chief executive Des King took the unusual step of issuing a statement, accompanied by pricing graphs, which he claims disproves the myth of holiday price increases in major Australian cities. Mr. King claims that history shows that petrol prices don't jump because of public holidays, although this claim is made at almost every holiday period, maybe because, weekly price cycles before holidays are often incorrectly claimed to be holiday price increases.
The NRMA’s President, Alan Evans has taken the statement by Caltex as a clear indication that they are going to increase petrol prices leading up to the Easter holiday period. Mr. Evans claims that if Caltex were really serious about it they would make a very clear statement saying not only are people wrong when they claim they will rise, but they will give a guarantee that petrol prices will not rise for Easter. Mr. Evans claims that major oil companies are treating motorists with contempt. Contempt or out and out price thuggery, the fact is many Australians will not be having the family get-together that has become traditional. The reason – PURE GREED.
I’m Phillip Pye.
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Post by lennie on Apr 5, 2007 23:53:00 GMT -5
Oil companies accused of Easter 'rip-off'
from ABC Online
The motoring group, NRMA, has labelled the sharp increase in NSW petrol prices overnight, the 'Great Easter rip off.'
The NRMA President Alan Evans says the price at the bowser has gone up dramatically ahead of the Easter long-weekend.
He says some service stations are charging 17 cents-per-litre more, with an average increase across Sydney of 14 cents.
Mr Evans says there has been no international increase in the price of crude oil to justify the change.
He has called on the Federal Govenment to intervene.
"The oil companies, knowing we have to fill out tanks up to go away for Easter, that we would make commitments to visit friends and relatives, have ripped the motorist off again and they're still trying to make excuses that it's just part of the normal cycle. Well sorry, 17 cents a litre is not part of any cycle other than the great rip off cycle," he said.
"Petrol prices will stay up high over the weekend because the oil companies know that we have no choice. Once we leave, we've got to fill out tanks to get back."
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Post by mickey on May 21, 2008 17:04:23 GMT -5
The cost of petrol in Australia has risen sharply, due to world oil prices trading at a record high.
Regular unleaded petrol has passed the $1.60 a litre barrier in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.
At some Sydney stations the price hit $1.62, and proved especially painful for the owners of large cars, who are seeing their wallet's drained of more than $110 to fill up
However prices are tending to vary widely, with some stations still selling regular unleaded at under a $1.50 a litre.
Petrol stations in the Northern Territory have been experiencing prices over $1.60 for more than a week
Diesel prices also have shot up, nearing $1.80 a litre
The price spike comes after world oil prices traded at a record $US129 a barrel in Asian markets, driven by concerns over tight global supplies amid strong demand.
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Post by Flash on May 27, 2008 16:57:12 GMT -5
Removing GST on petrol tax - is 4 cents per litre enough? The Prime Minister will face more grilling in parliament today after conceding he's done all he can to keep the cost of petrol down. The price of fuel is now predicted to reach $2.00 a litre in the not too distant future. It's causing a major headache for Kevin Rudd who last week admitted he's done as much as he physically can to help the family budget. The Government says it will now look at removing the GST charged on top of the petrol tax, which could save drivers about four cents a litre. www.2gb.com/index.php?option=com_yoursay&id=793&task=view&Itemid=173 |
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Post by Flash on May 28, 2008 14:33:35 GMT -5
THE boom in low-cost air travel appears over as Qantas and its budget subsidiary Jetstar cut domestic and international services because of rising fuel prices.
Qantas and Jetstar yesterday said they would ground aircraft rather than fly them on routes made unprofitable because of the rise in oil prices. Virgin Blue is expected to follow suit.
This is the first time Qantas has cut services in response to a rise in costs rather than a fall in demand, as was the case after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Asian economic crisis and the SARS outbreak.
Its chief executive, Geoff Dixon, said the company would "have to look harder" at cutting its non-fuel costs even after yesterday's announcement to reduce the airline's capacity by 5 per cent.
"What is sacrosanct is that we maintain the strength of our airline," he said, after Qantas announced plans to speed up the retirement of older jets, including Boeing 747-300s, and to ground a newer Jetstar Airbus A320.
There are concerns the recent surge in oil prices could pose a far bigger threat to the airline industry - and the world economy - than the September 11 attacks. United States airlines are expected to cut capacity by up to 15 per cent as they retire less fuel-efficient jets.
The grounding of the Jetstar A320 and cancellation of an order for a larger A321 mean Jetstar has scaled back growth plans for the first time since it was launched in 2004.
It also plans to cut services from Sydney to the Whitsunday Coast from July, and services to Hobart, Adelaide, the Sunshine Coast, Avalon and Cairns. Qantas will cut services from Sydney to the Gold Coast and Uluru. It is expected to announce changes to its international network next week.
Unions fear Qantas could use rising fuel prices as a reason to drastically cut costs, including moving maintenance jobs to Asia.
"On Monday Jetstar had to urgently get 75 foreign pilots," said Peter Somerville, the general manager of the Australian International Pilots Association, referring to the airline's plans to hire foreign pilots on 457 visas. "On Wednesday Qantas and Jetstar are having a 5 per cent capacity cut."
Qantas maintenance engineers are due to stop work for four hours today after another breakdown in negotiations over their demand for a 5 per cent wage rise.
Mr Dixon said Qantas would not budge on its offer of a 3 per cent a year pay rise over the term of the new agreement. "That is concrete for us," he said.
Tiger Airways, which operates four jets in Australia, said it would continue with its growth plans, but would start charging $15 for every 20 kilograms of checked-in baggage.
GLOBAL CALL TO ACT
The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has called for international action to halt spiralling oil prices. The global economy was facing "the third great oil shock of recent decades" and the way the world confronted the problem "will define our era".
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Post by keith on May 31, 2008 20:14:54 GMT -5
Feeling woozy about the fortune you've just pumped into your gas tank? Drivers around the world share the sensation. Consumers, gas retailers and governments are wrestling with a new energy order, where rising oil prices play a larger role than ever in the daily lives of increasingly mobile people. But as the cost of crude mounts, the effect on the price at the pump varies startlingly - from Venezuela, where gas is cheaper than water, to Turkey, where a full tank can cost more than a domestic plane ticket. Taxes and subsidies are the main reasons for the differences, along with lesser factors such as limited oil refining capacity and hard-to-reach geography that push up prices. "I don't know why it is but... it hurts," says Marie Penucci, a violinist filling up her Volkswagen at an Esso station on the bypass that rings Paris. As she pumped gas worth $9.66 a gallon she looked wistfully at a commuter climbing onto one of the city's cheap rent-a-bikes, an option not open to her since she travels long distances to perform. High taxes in Europe and Japan have long accustomed consumers to staggering pump prices, which now are testing new pain thresholds - and it could have been even worse, if a strong euro hadn't cushioned some of the blow. As a result, plenty of European adults never even bother to learn to drive, preferring cheap mass transit to cumbersome cars. Subsidies in emerging economies such as China and India, meanwhile, shield consumers but hurt governments, which must find a way to afford rising market prices for oil. Increasingly, they can't. Indonesians are staging protests against shrinking gasoline subsidies in a nation where nearly half the population of 235 million lives on less than $2 a day. And there are now 887 million vehicles in the world, up from 553 million vehicles just 15 years ago, and on track to nearly double to a billion by 2012, according to London-based consultancy Global Insight. In Europe, taxes are often the focus, since the high tax burden means crude itself is a smaller part of the burden. "The pain of a rise in prices is much less in Europe, because we may be paying a lot more here, but the rise in a percentage sense is a lot smaller," said Julius Walker, oil analyst at the Paris-based International Energy Agency. The United States, with its relatively low taxes, is considered to have retail prices closer to what energy data charts call the "real cost" of gasoline - which is closely linked to the price of oil. So as oil prices have soared, average U.S. prices have gone up 144 percent in the past five years - from $1.67 in May 2003 to $4.02 a gallon this month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Over the same period, gas prices in France went up 117 percent to $9.66 a gallon. Proposals by U.S. presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton to suspend federal gas taxes this summer would lower the price tag - but have little effect on the underlying oil price. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has urged the EU to cut value-added tax on fuel. French fishermen and farmers, who need fuel for their trawlers and tractors, say their livelihoods are threatened by soaring prices and have blocked oil terminals around France and shipping traffic on the English Channel to demand government help. Italian, Portuguese and Spanish fisherman joined them and went on strike Friday. British and Bulgarian truckers are staging fuel protests, too. Russia is proof that big oil-producing nations are not in any better shape when it comes to gasoline prices. Gas in the world's No. 2 oil producer runs about $3.68 a gallon - nearly that in the United States, where the average wage is about six times higher. Much of the Russian cost comes from taxes, which run between 60 and 70 percent. Limited refining capacity and the costs of transporting gasoline across the country's vast expanse also push up prices. Turkey faces similar problems - and even higher prices - $11.29 a gallon, which for a full tank in a midsize car can reach nearly $200, enough for a domestic plane ticket. In China, government-mandated low retail gasoline prices have helped farmers and China's urban poor but also have hurt conservation. In the first four months of 2008, gasoline consumption was up 5.5 percent from the same period last year. Venezuela, too, is a gas-guzzler's wonderland. A gallon costs just 12 cents and consumers are snapping up SUVs even as Americans are shunning them. Thanks to long-held government subsidies and plenty of oil, Venezuelans see cheap fuel as a birthright. Some policymakers in less oil-flush nations look to Brazil's use of ethanol as a potential solution. Ethanol from sugarcane is widely available in the world's No. 1 sugar producer and its 190 million people. Eight out of every 10 new cars sold are flex-fuel models that run on pure ethanol, gas or any combination of the two. The price for ethanol in Sao Paulo is currently running about half the price of gas, which runs $5.67 per gallon. In Japan, gas station owners say some customers aren't filling up their tanks all the way. "It's been tough. I had to switch to regular gasoline from premium class," said Hiroyuki Kashiwabara, a company employee in his 50s whose monthly spending on gasoline has increased by nearly 10,000 yen ($96) over the last couple of months. "My salary doesn't change and I can't cut back on my spending on food or anything else." Americans, too, are beginning to trim their hearty gas appetites. "We're beginning to see a slowdown in the U.S. in gasoline demand in particular. That's not so visible in other parts of the world," the IEA's Walker said. Jean-Marc Jancovici, a French engineer and co-author of a philosophical treatise called "Fill It Up, Please!" despairs rising thirst in the developing world for shrinking oil resources. "The real question is ... how to save peace and democracy in this context," he asks. His answer? To rich-country consumers, at least, he says: Pick up your bike and "stop being petroleum slaves." |
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Post by ppyenews on May 31, 2008 22:43:08 GMT -5
'Well' here it all is "Happening Again" - all the bullshit about Petrol Prices. This thread started a little over two years ago and still we are no better off, in fact to the contrary, we are worse off under a Labor Government than what we were at the hands of the Lib's. What is evident is that the Governments of Australia are to be deemed "POWERLESS" over the dealings of the Oil Companies.
"TRUE"- 'hmmm' I wonder??? Or is it that the excises and taxes that exist on Oil and it's subsidiary products is worth too many coffers to mess with???
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