View Full Version : Thurso Petrol Prices
Just passed Pennyland garage & unleaded down to 97.9p
Tesco got them scared?
Naefearjustbeer
07-Sep-06, 23:11
Dagnamit I filled up today must of been before the price reduction. I am sure it was 100.9.
It would have been taxi driver said he saw them changing it at closing time!
Tugmistress
08-Sep-06, 00:01
blimey, that's two cuts in about a week, i put some juice in the car the other day and was pleased it had dropped to 100.9 .... may just have to go and get some more now :D
Our petrol prices are down to 85 cents compared with $1.12 a month ago. Down in Toronro they were as low as 39.9 cents today.:eek:
Prices now at 93.5 cents / litre, i hear Ottawa is cheaper.
I do prefer driving here, don't miss Scottish petrol prices.
Miss many other things though.
brokencross
08-Sep-06, 07:03
At my local Tesco in Middlesbrough unleaded is 89.9p per litre
Morrisons in Alness is down to 89.9p
Tugmistress
08-Sep-06, 10:23
So now I am left wondering what the catch is :roll:
is there an election coming up or something?
j4bberw0ck
16-Sep-06, 13:00
There's a very good summary and explanation of oil pricing >>>here<<< (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060915.html).
The supermarkets are presently pushing prices down as loss leaders, which isn't specifically covered in the article.
Just passed Pennyland garage & unleaded down to 97.9p
Tesco got them scared?
No - Filled up in Glasgow yesterday at 87.9. Brora - 94.9. Still skint!
At current exchange rates I think it is about 8 pence a litre where I am :)
Murchiemannie
16-Sep-06, 15:21
can only be good news for us motorists......
Sainsburys Aberdeen is 87.4p a litre
i see pennyland have cut prices again.
unleaded at 94.9p deisel at 98.9p
its getting lower!!!!!
Petrol station on way to Argos in Wick (Scottish Fuels??) is 94p a litre
Maybe they're just dropping the price to sweeten us before it goes up to 125p per litre...
Billy Boy
19-Sep-06, 11:11
i see pennyland have cut prices again.
unleaded at 94.9p deisel at 98.9p
its getting lower!!!!!
and would you believe brigend and dunnet's are exactly the same,:eek:
Richard's Garage in Thurso is 93.9p a litre for unleaded.
connieb19
19-Sep-06, 21:29
97.9 for diesel at Elm Tree..
I have just filled up tonight at tesco in Inverness, prior to coming back up the road, 91.9p for diesel plus 5p off per litre if you spend more than £50 instore.
97.9 for diesel at Elm Tree..
Its 92.9p in Elm Tree now.
Tescos in Dingwall - 86.9p today!!
The price difference is all caused be the £2,000 delivery costs for each tanker load to come from Inverness!
Work it out for yourselves, 40.000 litres per tanker load at 5p per litre.
It probably cost less per litre to transport it from the Gulf to Britain. I never realised that Inverness was half way round the world from here!
The price difference is all caused be the £2,000 delivery costs for each tanker load to come from Inverness!
Work it out for yourselves, 40.000 litres per tanker load at 5p per litre.
It probably cost less per litre to transport it from the Gulf to Britain. I never realised that Inverness was half way round the world from here!
I thought it came into Scrabster by boat every week Jaws
Its 92.9p in Elm Tree now.
Tescos in Dingwall - 86.9p today!!
The price difference is all caused be the £2,000 delivery costs for each tanker load to come from Inverness!
Work it out for yourselves, 40.000 litres per tanker load at 5p per litre.
It probably cost less per litre to transport it from the Gulf to Britain. I never realised that Inverness was half way round the world from here!
That would make the petrol here 91.9p on your calculations - so they are still pricing to suit their pockets!!
j4bberw0ck
20-Sep-06, 09:35
so they are still pricing to suit their pockets!!
I'm not sure that's entirely fair, henry. If you own a large filling station in Inverness with a throughput of say 5 million litres a year, you can (a) buy your fuel cheaper and (b) sell it at a lower margin per litre than a small filling station in a small town with a throughput of say 500,000 litres a year.
If you were a regular buyer of a commodity in large quantities, wouldn't you expect to negotiate a discount with the supplier in exchange for your continued custom?
Plus the larger filling stations are now also shops, because the margin on fuel sales is so low; so in Inverness you can go into say the Esso station opposite the Thistle Hotel and stock up on magazines, food, booze - almost anything you want - all of which is a marginal cost to the filling station (because they already own the premises and have the staff) but provides a good margin because it's priced as a convenience store.
A small petrol retailer can't hope to match prices with a bigger operator. When you scale that up to the sort of league in which Asda and Tesco are operating, with central purchasing contracts for hundreds of millions of litres at a time, price differences are easily accounted for. You'll not find anyone getting rich out of small filling stations.
Can't understand why Thurso has so many filling stations, in the last few years there was;
1. by the Weigh Inn Hotel
2. Esso Pennyland
3. Scottish Fuels by the hospital
4. Shell by Co-op
5. Shell by the bridge
6. behind Woollies (now a paint shop) - fair enough two have gone, but still four for a population of c12,000? they MUST be making good money or they would not be there..
I'm not sure that's entirely fair, henry. If you own a large filling station in Inverness with a throughput of say 5 million litres a year, you can (a) buy your fuel cheaper and (b) sell it at a lower margin per litre than a small filling station in a small town with a throughput of say 500,000 litres a year.
If you were a regular buyer of a commodity in large quantities, wouldn't you expect to negotiate a discount with the supplier in exchange for your continued custom?
Plus the larger filling stations are now also shops, because the margin on fuel sales is so low; so in Inverness you can go into say the Esso station opposite the Thistle Hotel and stock up on magazines, food, booze - almost anything you want - all of which is a marginal cost to the filling station (because they already own the premises and have the staff) but provides a good margin because it's priced as a convenience store.
A small petrol retailer can't hope to match prices with a bigger operator. When you scale that up to the sort of league in which Asda and Tesco are operating, with central purchasing contracts for hundreds of millions of litres at a time, price differences are easily accounted for. You'll not find anyone getting rich out of small filling stations.
Yes, I agree, maybe my comment was a bit harsh - I was merely pointing out that the calculation indicated wasn't as simple and straight forward as Inverness price + Delivery price = caithness price.
Everyone has overheads and this has to be taken into account.
But this still doesn't explain why 1 petrol station was 97p one day and another was 94p - both in Wick. Surely they are buying in petrol at roughly the same price? I am not sure how the franchising works I'm afraid, so I may be totally wrong. (I take it to mean that a shell station purchases their petrol at 'shell price' plus delivery charges, but I could once again be wrong - I don't claim to be right all the time, honest!)
How are the prices in Orkney these days? Last time I was there, it was cheaper to fill up there before coming home, but I ran out of time :(
j4bberw0ck
20-Sep-06, 11:30
I try to use my local shop for fillups because I'd miss him if he wasn't there; currently he's at 100.5 / litre for unleaded. In town it's around 98, last time I looked. I console myself with the thought that actually, even at 5 pence a litre difference between local and town price, the difference per fill is only about £2 and it'd cost me more than that, and take an hour, to go into town and back. I value my time a little higher than £2 an hour, too! (Not sure SWMBO does, though :lol: ).
I must admit, I always use the same garage in Thurso - they are all priced the same except one and I'm not going across town just to fill up. I like to get a cheerful conversation from someone I know and have gotten to know quite well over the years.
I am surprised that your petrol is so dear over there as it was a couple of pence cheaper than us when I was over in August.
I think the biggest problem is the constantly fluctuating prices - although I rarely study the price as regardless of what it is, I'm going to need petrol anyway.
j4bberw0ck
20-Sep-06, 12:00
Orkney prices tend to react more slowly to changes, as far as I can see. It's because of the amount held in store; for instance, during the fuel crisis 6 or so years ago when filling stations were running dry, it was never a problem here because there was three months' supply bunkered.
I'm not saying that retailers don't make best use of changes in petrol prices to maximise what profit there is - far from it. Wouldn't you, if you were a retailer, even if only as a cushion against the time when things aren't working in your favour? I think Highland Fuels must regard Orkney as being like a money tree as (AFAIK) they're the sole supplier of all petroleum products.
But it's the products wholesaler (in this case Highland Fuels) who calls the pricing shots. No point in blaming the retailer for profiteering. Don't know to what extent Highland Fuels is the monopoly supplier over your side of the water.
Can't understand why Thurso has so many filling stations, in the last few years there was;
1. by the Weigh Inn Hotel
2. Esso Pennyland
3. Scottish Fuels by the hospital
4. Shell by Co-op
5. Shell by the bridge
6. behind Woollies (now a paint shop) - fair enough two have gone, but still four for a population of c12,000? they MUST be making good money or they would not be there..
Well, if you look at the list of what's left, Pennyland, Richard's Garage and Bridgend are on all the main routes in and out of Thurso. That's just good planning if you ask me. The Petrol pumps at Dunnett's is also another good idea as it is already a car dealership and they carry out repairs on vehicles so its just handy while you're getting your car repaired to fill up there aswell.
Think about it, if we only had one or two filling stations, say Richards and Pennyland and u sent ur son a walk to get a jerry can of fuel for your petrol mower to cut your grass. That'd be some trek from spring park wouldn't it?
j4bberw0ck
20-Sep-06, 17:48
Just thank your lucky stars........ :lol:
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2537/gaspricestk2.jpg
Bought unleaded to fill the tank for return to Caithness 86.9p plus another 5 p per litre off for spending over £50 in the store - therefor 81.9 per litre plus got club points on the shopping and club points on the fuel. Received token for sports in the store more tokens for sports goods in the Petrol station.
With club points I reckon the fuel cost me 80.9p per litre today. I will be back in Inverness in the next two days - third time this week so the savings are mounting up.
There is little doubt that my spending will be repatriated to Wick when Tesco opens here. There must be many drivers who are regularly in Inverness and can therefor avoid buying fuel in the north. The fuel plus the shopping spend coming back to Caithness should account for quite a few of the new jobs being created.
Keith Shelley
20-Sep-06, 20:07
Dont think they are that scared yet, I was in Inverness on monday and down there it is between 87 and 89 pence.
Petrol was 85p at Tesco in Inverness today, with a further 5p a litre off if you spend £50 on shopping at Tesco.
At Lassagie
21-Sep-06, 13:34
Petrol in Inverness is back to lower prices again too but I heard the rumour that the supermarkets sell a lesser quality petrol than the garages and that is how they manage to keep the price down. Have heard froma few people that use Tesco for refeulling that their cars 'pink' and in some cases the valves have been perishing. Does anyone know of any truth in this rumour becuse at the end of teh day if your car is being devalued by substandard fuel, you may be better off buying the dearer petrol from good local garages and keep the supermarket fuel pumps out.
Naefearjustbeer
21-Sep-06, 14:33
This rumour surfaces every now and then. All the fuel in scotland comes from the same refinery. If tescos had crap fuel so would every other petrol station. Also if the Big names could prove that they had better fuel would they not be advertising the fact everywhere. Our cars run fine on fuel from any petrol station and we do not notice any difference in running or MPG with cheaper fuel. The reason supermarkets keep the price down is that they make the bigger profits in the store when you do your shopping. The can afford to seel the fuel a lot cheaper that way. An independant garage has to make all its profit from the fuel and other bits and peices that it sells on the forecourt.
j4bberw0ck
21-Sep-06, 14:51
Does anyone know of any truth in this rumour
There used to be so-called "dumbbell petrol" with lower RON (octane ratings) which was supplied to cheap petrol outlets years ago and there were certainly cases of valves burning and so on - mind you, this was well before lead was banned. Largely because of the removal of lead (AFAIK) petrol is subject to a whole load of British Standards and so theoretically supermarket fuel (which is bought from the major companies anyway) is the same in terms of quality as the branded stuff. But it may lack additives to clean the engine, injectors and so on.
Try >>>here<<< (http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/?f=2&t=22919) for loads of opposing views and some information.
Also >>>here<<< (http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=215240&EL=3125465) and >>>here<<< (http://www.mgcars.org.uk/news/news69.html)
Aye but he's happy so why butt in, It costs small shops a lot to get deliveries out to them, When your snowed in & cant get to liddles you will be glad the PO is there, Where i live there is no shops or petrol it costs me a fiver before i get to the station but thats island life, I always support local produce even if i pay a bit more, Well ok magners cider is an exception but necessary :-)
I thought it came into Scrabster by boat every week JawsSomebody assured us via the board some time ago that it was Heating Oil which came in at Scrabster not fuel for vehicles.
I never got an answer when I asked why Heating Oil wasn't more expensive nearer to Inverness in that case.
The "turn-over" arguement doesn't hold water either. Many small Filling Stations outwith the area who have similar turn-overs to those here charge far less for their fuel.
Somebody assured us via the board some time ago that it was Heating Oil which came in at Scrabster not fuel for vehicles.
I never got an answer when I asked why Heating Oil wasn't more expensive nearer to Inverness in that case.
The "turn-over" arguement doesn't hold water either. Many small Filling Stations outwith the area who have similar turn-overs to those here charge far less for their fuel.
Cheers for the update Jaws
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