Are we next?

[Norwegianwood]

1 March 2011 Last updated at 10:18 ET Share this pageFacebookTwitter ShareEmail Print Petrol price hits record 130p per litre
The price of unleaded petrol rose sharply over the weekend The price of unleaded petrol has hit a new record of 130p per litre, according to industry analysts Experian Catalist.

Oil prices have risen about 10% in the past month due to the uprising in Libya, a major oil exporter.

That has also led tour operator Thomas Cook to introduce a new fuel surcharge to the cost of its holidays.

For short-haul flights the extra levy is £15 per holiday, rising to £40 for long-haul.

'Hitting budgets'

The average price of petrol has risen by nearly 6 pence per litre since the end of last year. It has increased due to rises in VAT, fuel duty and the wholesale price of oil.

Experian Catalist said the price of unleaded petrol had risen sharply over the last few days, increasing by 0.8 pence since Thursday.

The average price of diesel has also risen, and is now at 135.44p per litre.

The RAC Foundation, which also monitors prices, predicted that the price of unleaded petrol would continue to rise for some time.

"It would be no surprise if prices increase by another 8p a litre in the near future," said RAC motoring strategist, Adrian Tink.

"This kind of rise will seriously impact on people's car use, many of whom having no other option but to travel by car.

"These escalating prices are hitting family budgets hard at a difficult economic time," he added.

The RAC called on the government to scrap a planned 1p per litre rise in fuel duty, due to take effect in April.

Chancellor George Osborne indicated recently that the government was considering cancelling it.

Flying high

Thomas Cooks' new surcharge, the first since the summer of last year, will apply to all bookings that include a Thomas Cook flight made from Tuesday onwards.

The company blames a 40% increase in the cost of fuel for the move.

The surcharge applies to both flight-only or package holidays, and applies whether the trip is booked through a travel agency or directly with Thomas Cook itself.

Surcharges will apply to all charter brands including Thomas Cook, Airtours, Sunset, Manos, Club 18-30 and Neilson.

A spokesman for the company, Ian Ailles, said: "We've worked hard to keep the impact of the rising fuel costs on our holidaymakers to a minimum but the fuel levy is an unavoidable result of the rising price of oil."

[Localizer]

You gotta love the oil companies ... Libya accounts for 2% of the worlds oil .. for some reason the word "major" doesn't come to my mind, but oil companies will say anything to raise the price.

[Mig29]

I know, 2% is so major nowadays, I love the media how they just publish whatever is going to get them the headlines!!

And more and more I keep hearing about Libyan "crisis" to be not as "major" as well how the world (west) describes it....

oh well, not the first time that happend...

[ogc]

You gotta love the oil companies ... Libya accounts for 2% of the worlds oil .. for some reason the word "major" doesn't come to my mind, but oil companies will say anything to raise the price.

This definitely is not the fault of the oil companies.

Its because oil is a publicly traded commodity on an open market and is subject to speculation.

There is no real reason whatsoever for the latest spike in oil prices.

Libya only exports 1.5 million barrels per day, that is 15th in the world.

Compared to global oil exports of 61.32 million per day.

Another fact that has been under reported is that the Saudi's have boosted their production to cover the 1.5 million barrels that was lost due to Libya.

Speculation plain and simple.

The tragedy is the overall impact that this speculation has on the world.

[Mig29]

+ 1

[yycflyguy]

The spike is fear based on the fact that there is unrest in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt today but could spread to Algeria and possibly Iran and Saudi Arabia tomorrow. Will it break the high water mark of $147 in 2008? Time will tell.

[bcflyer]

The key word is "could".. I wonder what the public would say if AC and WJ raised their prices today because there "could" be an increase in some tax later in the year. There would be an outcry like you have never heard before and yet nobody seems to say much when oil (and gas by association) skyrockets because somebody is worried that there "could" be unrest in the future......