Price hike Shell Merseyside

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gas_cruiser · #1 Post by **gas_cruiser** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:45 pm

Anybody else notice the 3p hike in LPG prices in the Liverpool/Wirral area. My local has gone from 39.9p to 42.9p over night. Am I missing something here or is 'greener living' not the current buzz word? Surely that's not promoting the 'green' image of a company or assisting in changing peoples views about cleaner fuels. Anyway I've emailed their customer services to ask them to explain the reason why the price has increased so much. Does anybody have an idea why they gone up so much?

dmd · #2 Post by **dmd** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:40 pm

Is this just the delayed effect of the recent 2.25p duty increase (2.64p after VAT)? I have noticed that some filling stations added the extra on immediately but others have not done so yet. Did your local put their prices up after the budget announcment or are they just doing it now?

daf_t · #3 Post by **daf_t** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:50 pm

A Durham retailer tell me that LPG prices will drop very soon, as stocks for the winter weren't needed, leaving many suppliers with an excess of LPG. A drop of a few pence per litre has been suggested. I do hope they're right!

gas_cruiser · #4 Post by **gas_cruiser** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:06 am

They've put each station up over a period of weeks. I've avoided each one thats bumped the prices up, but now they've all done it now so I dont have a choice. I thought the price of LPG was staying put? It would be nice to see the prioes go down though. Fingers crossed.

gas_cruiser · #5 Post by **gas_cruiser** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:12 pm

Ok Shell were good enough to reply to my email: - Thank you for your E mail regarding the price increase of LPG. Automotive LPG is a by-product of the oil refining process and therefore is closely associated with the price of crude oil, which can be subject to significant upward and downward movements on world markets. The wholesale cost of automotive LPG itself can fluctuate for many reasons - supply and demand factors in large consumption industries such as chemicals, political tension in areas of significant production, production disruptions, supply shortages following demand spikes caused by colder than normal weather in large markets, and so on Crude oil prices move up and down on a daily basis whereas the benchmark price for LPG is quoted on a monthly basis. Irrespective of crude oil price changes, because LPG is used very heavily as a heating fuel, wholesale LPG prices typically increase during the colder winter months and then fall during the warmer summer months. Each service station operates within its own competitive environment, so each service station is looked at individually regarding LPG pump pricing, taking into account a number of different factors - different levels of competitive intensity, the proximity of supermarkets, traffic flows, customer base (local regular customers or transient customers), throughputs, operating costs and so on. The typical pump price for LPG is around half the price of unleaded petrol. Yours sincerely, Paul Smith Customer Relations - Retail.

MarkJones · #6 Post by **MarkJones** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:29 pm

we should threaten them with a blockade of the stanlow refinery ...me thinks . looks like a crappy pre-written responce edited to suit lpg. All the best.mark

gas_cruiser · #7 Post by **gas_cruiser** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:15 pm

I agree. Winter hasn't been that cold so far and I'm sure its something that doesn't suddenly catch us out one day. So why dont they plan for it and ensure that the price is filtered out throughout the year. I bet the prices wont shift back down by 3p when it gets warmer, they'll just post another excuse to cover it. The little man really does get a shafting these days!

wacker · #8 Post by **wacker** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:53 pm

Shell are talking cr4p LPG is a by product from the production of petrol and there is always a masive surplus it use to be burnt of at the oil refineries. it would be intresting to know the figuers of how many liters of petrol it takes to produce a litere of lpg, and how many homes are using it for heating and how many motorists are using it! I think the production would far out weigh the demand even in the coldist snap of winter.

kingpleb · #9 Post by **kingpleb** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:29 pm

Wish i could get a job at such a refinery, free LPG all the way baby

gas_cruiser · #10 Post by **gas_cruiser** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:45 pm

*** UPDATE *** With regards to your recent communication with my colleague, Paul Smith, I just thought I would update you on this issue. After further discussions with Autogas it appears as though the recent price increases at some Shell sites in Merseyside were due to the duty increase, which had not previously been passed on to the sites. This duty increase of 2.25ppl (2.6ppl incl. VAT) is only now working its way down to some sites. I hope this updated information helps answer your original query. Kind regards, Mike Ward Shell Retail Customer Services