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ever increasing price of petrol and price of diesel in the UK and around the world. Despite what people may tell you there is no shortage of crude oil. In a recent BBC Scotland documentary we were advised that far from running out, there is still as much if not more oil under the north sea than has been extracted already, and motorists in
Europe are barely using any more fuel now per year than they were five years ago. Worse still, the price of crude oil has in recent times been more greatly affected by oil company's and money market
speculators, than it has by OPEC or any Government. "Fears that a hurricane in southern USA may hit an oil terminal has sent the price of crude soaring". Sound familiar? Why does it matter - the US holds more than enough oil stocks to cover a 3 or 4 month
shortfall. It matters because the money marketeers use this hype to inflate prices and make more money. It's largely greed, not a shortage of oil that mostly drives the price of petrol and diesel. OPEC may 'meter' the supply to some degree, and this does have an effect on world prices of
petrol, but even they admit there is no shortage of crude oil
or oil derivatives and they are not the only culprits in keeping the price of crude oil high. Until demand falls, the high prices are likely to stay.
There's not much we can do about the changing petrol prices, or diesel prices, and the days of cheap fuel will never return, but we CAN do something about wasting it and EVERYONE, to some degree, is wasting at least some what they buy.
Imagine if we all worked that bit harder to conserve the fuel we used by following the tips on this site. We would all use up to 20% less fuel and as a result, the price of petrol would actually fall, as demand fell, so we'd all gain twice over! We may
never get back to cheap fuel, but we can stop the prices rising by a considerable degree if we all work together.
Did you know that up to 20% of drivers are carrying the weight of an average person round in their car in tools, junk, rubbish and other stuff they do not actually need in their
cars or vans. Poorly
inflated tyres and mis-aligned tracking can reduce your fuel economy by as much as 4%. Fuel itself is heavy, to save money only ever half fill your tank unless you are going on a long journey where fuel is in short supply. The
average driver traveling at 90mph on a motorway will spend £1.20 more on fuel every eight minutes than a driver traveling at 70mph (that's £9.75 every hour! )The 90mph driver will have traveled farther in that time but will still be
spending 40 per cent more per mile than the 70mph driver.
A few myths busted. "You can drive a diesel car as hard as you like and the fuel economy will barely change". Wrong. Recent research has shown that while fuel economy in diesel cars is not as
susceptible to speed as it is in petrol cars, the harder you drive, the more it will cost you. "My car does better mpg at 56mph than it does at lower speeds". Wrong again. Manufacturers often quote their best mpg achievements at a steady 56mph, but in
truth, the slower you go, the less fuel you will use and the more money you will save. Research has proven this. And there's more. To find out how you could save money on Petrol or Diesel, take a look at
the hints, tips and information on this site. While we're not trying to save the planet here, only money, if we all adopted a more educated view of driving, we ultimately help reduce global warming and the money in government coffers from speeding fines. And that can't be a bad thing. Don't waste your precious
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