The price at the pumps has seen an increase as of late, but why is it happening now and what does the future hold for petrol hungry motorists?
So why is everyone talking about an increase at the pumps? What is that supposed to mean?
All this talk about an increase at ‘the pumps’ relates to a rise in the cost of crude oil that has in turn had an effect on the price of petrol and diesel. Irish motorists are now facing an all-time high for the price of their fuel.
How high is this ‘all-time high’?
Pretty high… Cheech and Chong high, to be utterly honest. We’re now paying 20c per litre more compared with this time last year. A litre of petrol at the pumps will cost you close to €1.70 per litre when only three years ago it cost 94c per litre. Back then, people thought 94c per litre was ridiculously high – so much for that.
Holy moly… So it’s almost doubled in three years? How expensive is it going to get?
Yeah, you’re right. It’s almost doubled in the past three years and if things continue to go the way they are then the price could easily hit €2 per litre before the end of the year. The average driver will fork out over €2,500 on fuel this year, compared to 2010 when we would have only spent about €1,800.
If you have a look at Pumps.ie you’ll see that the current average price at the pumps right now is 169.9c for petrol and 156.9c for diesel.
So why is petrol and diesel so expensive?
Well, it’s all down to a number of different factors. Firstly, there’s war. You’ll tend to find that most of the oil rich countries currently have civil wars going on, or else the peace simply isn’t being kept in those places. So it’s a bit harder to get oil out of them. Secondly, there’s been a 10 per cent rise in the price of crude oil, so as we said above, this has had a knock-on effect, which increases the price of petrol and diesel.
Apparently, Irish motorists haven’t seen this 10 per cent rise at the pumps just yet, and it equates to an extra 8c per litre.
This means that within the next fortnight, we’ll be paying roughly €1.80 per litre. So you might want to stock up now, if you’re that way inclined.
Is that the only reason the price is so high? Because of crude oil prices?
No, not at all. The fact that crude oil is going up is only the tip of this expensive iceberg. According to the main man of Irish motoring, Conor Faughnan, if petrol prices were tax-free then we’d be paying between 75c and 80c per litre. So nearly a whole euro of your €1.70 will be going straight into the government’s pockets. Well for some, right?
What!? That’s a joke… So where’s the cheapest petrol then?
Well, according to the Galway Independent, residents of the city can avail of some of the cheapest fuel in the county as Corrib Oil on the Tuam Road is currently selling a litre of petrol for only 158.9c and diesel for 141.39C per litre.
Alternatively, you could head to Venezuela where a litre of petrol costs roughly €0.12. Some difference we think you’ll agree.
Now, if only Ireland had a load of oil just sitting off the west coast that we could either keep or sell off… oh wait…
