Petrol To Reach All Time High

As if the cost of running a motor vehicle in today's society isn't high enough with inflated road tax and van insurance costs, things are going to get worse. The cost of petrol is set to reach an all time high in 2005.

With a rise in the cost of crude oil of over 50% since the same time last year we are going to see this translated into the cost of petrol and diesel at the petrol forecourts. In April 2005 the average cost of a litre of petrol has risen to over 85 pence raising the cost of a gallon to almost £3.80 with more increases forecast.

Diesel has also been hit by the increase in crude oil costs with a gallon now costing over £4. This will mean an increase in transport costs for hauliers and taxi drivers which will no doubt be passed onto the customer. With the increase in the sales of diesel cars over the past couple of years this will also come as a blow to the members of the motoring community that purchased diesels for the cheaper fuel costs alone.

If this wasn't enough the government are set to review and increase the excise duty on petrol by an estimated 2 pence a litre in September pushing petrol costs up even further.

The fact is the government know that the motoring community is so dependant on their cars that most motorists will undoubtedly bite the bullet and fork out the extra expense. However with prices of all aspects of motoring such as road tax, van insurance and fuel costs cheaper in most other countries around the world something is going to have to give. With petrol set to break the 90 pence a litre barrier in 2005 maybe the government should be looking at a way to reduce excise duty instead of raise it. This could avoid a repeat of the ugly scenes of the September 2000 demonstrations that brought Britain to a standstill.