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I just received this in my email today, see what you think:
We are hitting 95p a litre in some areas now, soon it will be £1 or higher, unless we do something about it.
This makes much more sense than the "don’t buy petrol on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May. The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn’t continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol.
It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
But, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read it and join in.
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre is sensibly priced at whatever rate they charge, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that buyers control the market place not sellers. With the price of petrol going up<br>more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their petrol.
Furthermore, we can do that without hurting ourselves.
Here’s the idea:<br>For the rest of this year, DO NOT purchase petrol from the two biggest oil companies (which are now one), ESSO and BP.
If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.
To make this work we need to reach literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers.
It’s really simple to do.
Please don’t back out at this point as everything is strictly legal and we’ll all benefit.
I am sending this note to most people in my address book. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)… and those 300 send it to at least ten more<br>(300 x 10 = 3,000) … and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted.
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, millions and millions of people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days.
Acting together will make a difference.<br>If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.
PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE 69p a LITRE RANGE
It’s easy to make this happen. Just forward this email, and buy your petrol at Shell, Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons Jet etc. but NOT BP & Esso.
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So? Shall we all get stuck into this?
Why not just consume less petrol?
The price is being pushed up because of the uncertainty of supply (not helped by the crusades) coupled with high demand.
Obviously, the uncertainty of suply is going to continue, however, we could reduce demand and lower prices that way.
Of course, it’s not going to happen, but that’s a reflection on us as a society. It’s not about "big business control".
As for this suggestion of a boycott that will reduce prices to 65p, it’s faulty logic.
It all falls down on the statement "If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit".
Steve
Quote: from Racing Daily on 10:10 pm on Sep. 1, 2005[br]
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a litre is sensibly priced at whatever rate they charge,
The last time I looked petrol was retailing for around 1.08 euro per litre in Ireland. 91p Sterling equals about 1.27 euro. The UK is an oil producer, Ireland isn’t. Why is petrol nearly 20% more expensive in the UK than here? We buy our petrol from the same companies.
Maybe it’s Gordon Brown you need to be harrassing, not the oil companies?
Racing Daily
Appreciate your efforts at encouraging mass action, but I can’t really join in this particular campaign. The spectacle of millions of comfortably well-off people in one of the wealthiest countries of the world working themselves into a frenzy because they may have to pay a few pence extra per litre of petrol is not a particularly edifying one
The Growth of China’s economy is the main reason for the growth in the price of oil. China has 1/6 of the worlds population and beside the production side of the economic growth which needs fuel one of the main causes is that they are all buying cars now.<br>China’s thirst for oil is also one of the main reason’s that America went into Iraq to secure the supply and due to recent cooperation between Venezuela and China that high profile people in America believe its time to get rid of Chavez.(not in the nice way)<br>Boycot or no Boycot oil prices are going to continue to rise. Its a non renewable source of energy. The only real answer is to build good public transport systems <br>and use eco friendly renewable sources of energy.
A bit of forward practical thinking wouldn’t go astray. What are the odds that were going to get that from the current crop.
Quote: from Aranalde on 8:09 am on Sep. 2, 2005[br]Racing Daily
Appreciate your efforts at encouraging mass action, but I can’t really join in this particular campaign. The spectacle of millions of comfortably well-off people in one of the wealthiest countries of the world working themselves into a frenzy because they may have to pay a few pence extra per litre of petrol is not a particularly edifying one<br>
So, assumably you wouldn’t have a problem with petrol at £1.10 per litre? Maybe even £1.30?<br>My post has nothing to do with 50m Americans screaming at the prospect of paying 45.3p per litre for fuel. It has more to do with the prospect of us paying 20% extra for our weekly shopping. It has to do with paying higher fares for an already overpriced public transport system. Are these ’causes’ not of sufficient importance to warrant driving past your local BP station, charging 96.9L, and instead stopping at a Sainsbury’s or Tesco that charges 93.9L instead? (metro stations are Esso fuel, i’m talking supermarkets). Is bringing down the cost of living not a worthy cause? A worthy cause that requires such little effort? I NEVER buy fuel at BP for the record. I would rather not pay for their luvly looking, Conran fitted, Wild Bean Cafe in the price of my fuel. Neither should all of you.
I realise that some things are not as simple as they seem. I do however know that the price at my local Esso station is always 1p or more higher than the Tesco station next door. Always. If Esso are forced to reduce their price, then Tesco will follow suit. Same as if BP drop their price, Sainsbury’s are always going to outbid them by a few pence (who can’t beat the BP price?)<br>It’s not so far fetched that the biggest oil producers can’t be forced to bring down their prices. If no-one buys their product, what choice do they have? None. The price of anything is as high as people will pay for it. A Sony PSP retails at £179.99. I bent over backwards to get mine yesterday at that price. Therefore, Sony are going to continue to charge £179.99RRP. However, if no-one bought one, you would see them bundling three games with it for £199.99 in order to increase sales. Market forces are dictated by demand. That is why we have the January sales. To get people to get their wallet out AGAIN after Christmas. If it were not for the sales, the cash registers would be dry as a bone. They realise that the only way to sell product when there is no demand is to reduce prices.
BTW, it’s just an e-mail I received. I’m no activist LOL<br>I simply happen to agree with what is states.
No, I have to confess, I wouldn’t have a problem with petrol at the prices you mentioned. Nor do I think the prospect of 20% higher weekly shopping bills is something worth mounting a campaign over or labelling as a ’cause’. I wouldn’t be overjoyed about it, but I like to think I would keep a sense of proportion.
I’ve no doubt over your sincerity on this issue and the energy with which you’ve promoted it is admirable. However, I would have more sympathy if you were proposing such a course of action because of the way these companies conduct themselves in countries like Nigeria, rather than the possibility that we might have to pay more for our petrol.
And in answer to your other question – no, I don’t think bringing down the cost of living is a worthy cause. Abolishing 3rd World Debt, campaigning to end imprisonment without trial, funding research into a cure for AIDS and cancer – these I would say, are examples of worthy causes. <br>
Just for the record, the wealthy country I was referring to was this one, not the USA.
Quote: from Racing Daily on 4:53 pm on Sep. 2, 2005[br]
Quote: from Aranalde on 8:09 am on Sep. 2, 2005[br]Racing Daily
 Market forces are dictated by demand
Don’t forget about Supply Daily. And with petrol the supply is finite.
Also the idea that a hand full of e-mails can make a change is not viable.A small world economy like England can’t effect the price of oil in the Global market , never mind a small scale boycott at your local pump stattion. The margin for price changes is very small. A penny here or there won’t make any difference 99% of petrol price is determined by gov taxes and wolrd prices and you won’t have any effect on either.
If it comes down to a waiting game between the sellers of a PSP and consumers then the consumers may have a chance. Unfortunatley petrol is not in the same luxury purchase bracket as a PSP.
Your also working of the idea that either Tesco or Esso have any desire to get into a price war over a must have product. If they don’t fold whats the worst you can do .. push your car to work?
Regressive idea. Its like calling on the world to devote their time to treating the symptom.
Alternatively we could just engourage the western governemnts to invade oil rich countries to secure a cheap source of petrol for our 3 litre cars. We copuld shave a couple of farthings for at least another 10 years.
The sooner the world deals with its oil dependancy the better.
Quote: from Aranalde on 5:30 pm on Sep. 2, 2005[br]Just for the record, the wealthy country I was referring to was this one, not the USA.
Ahh. I didn’t know I lived in a wealthy country ;)<br>I’m sure that the infrastructure would place us at the high end of the scale., but my wage packet certainly doesn’t. Unless £5.16ph (net) can be described as being wealthy LOL I can barely afford to pay the council tax sometimes, let alone going on holiday.
Quote: from Nixer on 5:35 pm on Sep. 2, 2005[br]
Regressive idea. Its like calling on the world to devote their time to treating the symptom.
The sooner the world deals with its oil dependancy the better. <br>
The way I look at it, people power is only as strong as the financial punishment you can hand out. Hit a company’s ‘bottom line’ and you would be surprised what you can achieve.<br>It is true that alternative fuels are the way to go. However, whilst people are willing to pay whatever the oil companies and treasury ask for fuel then they will continue to milk it. The treasury are hypocrites. They milk the motorist for every penny they can. Do they pump that income into sustainable technologies? Like **** do they! They build more roads for more cars to buy more fuel. The gov should be ploughing every penny it can into alternate energy sources for transport. Then we could tell OPEC to shove their oil.
I can only assume that your latest remarks were tongue in cheek, since I am sure you would not have missed the irony of someone living in Britain protesting that he is not wealthy because sometimes he can’t afford a holiday.
I’m stating that having a yearly holiday is a pretty basic thing for someone who supposedly lives in a "wealthy" country. Living in a wealthy country would, you would assume, indicate that the population should really have the money to pay their bills. Not having the money to pay your council tax puts you in the poverty bracket. See the conflict in terms here? <br>It points to the fact that the population are being given too high burden to sustain a better than frugal quality of life. In the process making their country wealthy at the cost of keeping the populous poor.<br>I don’t bet on the horses because I can afford to. I do it because I sometimes HAVE to. Sometimes it pays my council tax for me, other times it simply adds to the burden. That is a risk I feel is acceptable however. My computer was purchased with the proceeds of a good day at the races.<br>This is the whole reason that I am possibly over zealous when it comes to protesting the cost of living. I don’t think a yearly holiday is a lot to ask. Not really. Not when you live in a "wealthy" country.
So, assumably you wouldn’t have a problem with petrol at £1.10 per litre?  Maybe even £1.30?<br>
<br>Absolutely no problem whatsoever. I would be in favour of even more widespread taxation (on fuel or otherwise), were it all to be channelled into sustaining the health, welfare and educational (academic and vocational) systems, and a fully integrated public transport system – oh yes, and the mandatory 5p in the pound payment to charity as discussed in another thread earlier this summer.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
(Edited by graysonscolumn at 9:24 pm on Sep. 2, 2005)
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Whether or not you can afford a holiday, you are still wealthier than the vast majority of the people on the planet. Your protestations of poverty are unlikely to be met with much sympathy by the people of Sudan or Guatemala or Bangladesh. Try seeing the bigger picture.
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