why is there so much difference in petrol and diesel prices.?

Answer 1

The real reason, disregarding all tax from governments etc, is the two are extracted from the crude oil using a process called distillation, now petrol comes out of the process much earlier than diesel so there fore it costs less, the crude had to be heated and treated for longer for the diesel to be extracted,it actually comes off just before bitumen which is usesd to surface the roads, i hope this answers your question

Answer 2

diesel was always cheap because no wanted it,then along can the modern diesel engine ,the government and fuel supply companies realised they where on a winner ,at most filling stations now the price of diesel is close to or slightly above the price of petrol.

Answer 3

I think the Government is being cynical. Diesel is much more economical, so they take a bit more duty.
Also, all the garages are in competion, so they discount petrol more heavily, and get a bit back on diesel.
In just about every other country I have driven in, diesel is cheaper.

Answer 4

in most parts of the uk diesel is more expensive than petrol even though diesel lasts longer. but petrol is probably better for the environment i think

Answer 5

The primary cause of the huge difference in price is not because there is really a huge difference in cost.

Laws of supply and demand. Various parts of the world have different supply and demand for gas vs diesel.

Various government taxation. The government taxes the two fuel differently. This way it encourages the use of one type of fuel over another.

Answer 6

In the UK we do not have sufficient refining capacity to produce enough Deisel for our domestic use so some has to be imported so it is a simple case of supply and demand producing a higher price in a free market economy. We can refine enough petrol though "would they have got away with a 24p difference in price" yes as just like now we would continue to buy it as we like our vehicles so much

Answer 7

More tax associated with diesel....because it is 'less green' although this has improved greatly in the last few years - diesel cars are in many cases more environmentally sound than their petrol counterparts.

Answer 8

Pricing is all a matter of what the distributor can get away with. More diesel is burned by commercial vehicles, and thus the cost can be passed on to other comsumers, thus they can get away with charging more, even though it costs less to produce. The cost difference disappears into the system.

Answer 9

? perhaps the fact more petrol is produced so keeps the price down and also diesel go's through alot more processes in the refinerys i think

Answer 10

They are both refined from crude oil, other than that they have nothing in common. Different products for different uses manufactured in different ways. Also diesel is up due to the new low sulphur requirements coming into effect.