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Don't it make you mad too hear that, when we're all getting screwed over petrol prices, here in the UK Or is it only me I realise the biggest part of petrol charges are tax, but...................

Oops wrong link Try this one:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7219148.stm

Chris.

Glad to see you keep up to date on current affairs Sirch

Last Updated: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 11:16 GMT

Correct me if i am wrong (I am sure you will ) but.......

Most of Shell's profits come from finding and extracting oil, and then selling it on to the markets.

Little, if any, profit comes from forecourt sales of fuel - which in the UK attracts among the highest taxes in Europe.

If Shells profits come from selling oil to the markets surely if that oil was sold at a lower price with a lesser profit margin then the discount would find its way to the forecourts!
God I hate it when they assume the reader is as thick as a whale omelette

No, it was announced this morning on the national BBC news.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7219148.stm

Well spotted guy's I've corrected it now

Chris.

PS. Well done Beamish, you've got the right one

Beamish wrote:Correct me if i am wrong (I am sure you will ) but.......

Most of Shell's profits come from finding and extracting oil, and then selling it on to the markets.

Little, if any, profit comes from forecourt sales of fuel - which in the UK attracts among the highest taxes in Europe.

If Shells profits come from selling oil to the markets surely if that oil was sold at a lower price with a lesser profit margin then the discount would find its way to the forecourts!
God I hate it when they assume the reader is as thick as a whale omelette

One would have thought that would be the case

Chris.

Wouldn't matter if crude oil was £20 a barrel we would still be paying over a quid a litre ..the revenue the government receives from forecourt sales is staggering...whats next a sunshine tax..privatise the air..????

I tried to find out a few years back what the government made out of the motorist in terms of pure tax in any 24 hour period to within a couple of million quid.
Answer?

Well you do the maths

Fuel duties collected by Customs in 2002-2003 amounted to £22.1 billion, and they are predicted to amount to £22.8 billion in 2003-2004 and £24.4 billion in 2004-2005.

That amounts to 20.33 per cent, 19.59 per cent and 20.07 per cent of HM Customs' total revenues for those years.

If the tax wasn't on fuel it would have to go on something else though, like income tax. Whether we like it or not, most (not all, I know) can choose to use less fuel, so its fairer in a way.