Finding value in the fuel frenzy Shopping around for your petrol and diesel could save you up to €7 for an 80-litre fill Neill O'Neill WITH oil prices hitting record highs on an almost daily basis the effects are being felt by everyone, and it will now cost you in the region of €8 more to fill an average 60-litre petrol tank in your car than it did in January of this year.
For drivers of diesel vehicles the situation is even worse, with the price of what was always a cheaper fuel than petrol having risen by eleven per cent since January, to now cost six per cent more than petrol. These monthly rises in diesel costs are unprecedented and, while the average price for a litre of diesel in Ireland was 119.6 cents in January, it has now risen to an average – on the low end of the scale – of 141.9 cents a litre, a jump of over 24 cents a litre in just five months.
The bad news is that some economists are predicting that the already inflated price of a barrel of oil could continue to skyrocket towards the $200 per barrel mark. The extremity of the increases in the price of this vital commodity over the last decade is perhaps best emphasised by the fact that last week the price of oil per barrel increased by over $10.75 in a single day –which is equivalent to the entire price of a barrel of oil in December 1998.
In Mayo the price of petrol varies – though not very considerably – from town to town and from pump to pump. However, Claremorris is clearly the place in the county where motorists get the best value per litre for their money.
The presence of the new Tesco filling station may be responsible for this, as with the cheapest forecourt prices in Mayo – 125.9 per litre of unleaded and 136.9 per litre of diesel – their competitors must feel inclined to stay competitive. On the Old Ballyhaunis Road the pumps at Hunt’s filling station and Mace store was the second cheapest to be found, while closer towards Claremorris town, on the same street, fuel prices at Higgins’s Statoil were the fifth cheapest of 40 filling stations in the county surveyed by The Mayo News last week.
Hennigan’s Statoil filling station in Ballindine was the third cheapest station surveyed, and at 128.9 cents per litre of unleaded and 137.9 cents per litre of diesel, their June prices are good enough to beat the national price averages for May of this year. To fill up at the fourth cheapest station surveyed you have to move from south Mayo to Cosgrave’s Maxol on the Westport Road outside Castlebar, where diesel is four cents per litre cheaper than at the other filling stations in the county town.
At the other end of the scale, the most expensive filling stations can be found in more rural parts of the county. In Achill for example, the three stations surveyed had prices consistent with each other – 133.9 cents per litre of unleaded and 144.9 cents per litre of diesel.
This means that you could fill a vehicle with an 80-litre diesel tank for €109.52 in Tesco in Claremorris, but if you did so in Achill it would cost you €115.92. The same capacity petrol tank would cost €100.72 to fill at Tesco and €107.12 to fill in Achill. The single highest price for diesel was recorded at Cunniffe’s in Kilkelly, where one litre costs 145.9 cents.
An obvious conclusion that can be drawn from this price survey is that there is value to be had in shopping around for fuel in almost every town in Mayo.
This is evident in the fact that there are differences in the prices of fuels in different and neighbouring stations in Westport, Castlebar, Ballina, Charlestown, Ballyhaunis, Swinford, Claremorris and Ballinrobe. Apart from Achill, Kiltimagh and Mulranny are exceptions to this rule out of those filling stations and towns surveyed.
Who is hardest hit? Neill O’Neill WHILE everyone is feeling the pinch of rising fuel costs, there are some for whom these are truly worrying times.
Airlines are increasing ticket prices and adding fuel surcharges, and farmers recently expressed concern that rising fuel costs will result in higher charges for contractors this summer. With the farming sector already facing increased competition, additional costs in harvesting, transport and cultivation could have a devastating effect on the farming industry.
Likewise, taxi drivers are digging deeper into their pockets to fill their tanks every day, but many – especially hackneys – find themselves in a position to be able to pass on some of the costs to their passengers.
A group for whom such surcharging is less acceptable is the road hauliers, who have also stressed the effect rising fuel prices are having on their sector. The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) last week highlighted their grave concerns for the Irish economy, predicting that spiraling fuel costs will destroy the Irish haulage sector. They are threatening all-out stoppages if the issue is not addressed immediately.
Meanwhile, fishermen around the country have already begun such action.
Hauliers
Noel Howley from Foxford owns a haulage company with 35 trucks on the road. He is now spending €10,000 more on diesel per week than he was this time last year. His fuel bill runs to over €60,000 per fortnight, but was 40 per cent less than this one year ago.
“Diesel costs have gone up 38 per cent since January and 42 per cent over the last 12 months,” said Noel. “We cannot live with this and nobody is listening to us. It is becoming impossible for haulage companies to make money and we cannot just pass surcharges onto customers as nobody will stand for that in tighter economic times.
“I remember paying 57 cents per litre for diesel three years ago and now it’s around 142.9 cents. Diesel is not economical anymore. The haulage industry needs to unite and take action. There are no freight trains anymore so maybe if we all stop working the country will come to a standstill and people will see how necessary it is that our sector is protected.
Martin Beirne of Westport’s Beirne Express has 15 trucks on the road, each of which will run for three or four days on a fuel tank that costs between €500 and €1,000 to fill. Even at that, he – like other hauliers – is getting diesel cheaper than other drivers because of his regular bulk purchasing.
“Fuel is my biggest overhead by far,” he said, “and my annual bill has doubled with the price of fuel over the past five years. We consume around 12,000 litres of fuel per week which costs in excess of €13,000. However, it would be several thousand euro more if we had to pay full price for it.”
Fishermen
Eamonn Dixon is a fisherman from Erris and says that between blocked markets in Europe and fuel price increases, he has not been at sea for two weeks. He says there are over 100 commercial fishing boats in Mayo and over 300 full-time fishermen affected by what is a crisis for the industry.
“Agricultural diesel is costing around €1 per litre now, which is three times what it was two years ago and double what it was last year. It is costing around €600 per week to fuel our boat, when it should be costing one third of this.”
Reg Roynan operates a busy fishing trip service out of Westport. He too is feeling the strain of fuel prices, and the cost of filling his tank – which will last him four working days on the bay – has increased by over €400 since last year.
“The fuel increases are affecting me big time and all I can do is pass them on to the customers or else I’d be working for nothing,” he said. “People don’t like this and you can’t be putting them off going fishing either, but there isn’t much that can be done about it. I have bookings from a long time ago and I have to operate those trips at the price agreed on at the time. I have to take the hit on the massive fuel increases that have come into play in the meantime, and it’s costing me massively.”
Though not a fisherman in the traditional sense, Brian O’Grady makes his living on the waters around Mayo, providing a ferry service to Clare Island and Inishturk. To fill his largest ferry – The Pirate Queen – costs him €1,400 more today than this time last year.
“The price of fuel is gone crazy,” he said. “It’s crippling and we have had to cut down on the number of sailings we make and often take out the smaller boats when possible.”
GETTING FUEL VALUE TIPS FROM THE AA > Get to know the prices in your area. Prices will rotate around the average by as much as five cents per litre, so it’s worth getting into the habit of noticing prices as you drive around. Always favour the garages with the cheapest fuel, rather than staying loyal to one outlet or one brand.
> Buy petrol in units of litres rather than in units of euros. Most people buy €10 or €20 or just fill up; this disguises the value that you are getting. If you always buy 30 litres of petrol rather than €20 worth, it becomes very obvious when one garage charges €26.70 (89 cent per litre) and another charges €29.70 (99 cent per litre) for the same amount of fuel.
> Ignore loyalty schemes, bonus schemes etc and just concentrate on price.
> Use fuel wisely. Your driving style will greatly affect your fuel consumption. Drive gently, avoiding harsh acceleration and braking. Roof-racks add to fuel consumption so remove them when not in use. Air conditioning adds greatly to fuel use, so turn it off when you don’t really need it.
