The pump price at L’Aumone yesterday reached £4.72 a gallon. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0582264)
PETROL yesterday soared past the £1-a-litre mark in Guernsey for the first time. And the Co-op was criticised by a competitor for hiking unleaded fuel to 103.9p per litre at its L’Aumone forecourt.
However the Co-op admitted that the price hike was too high and said it would correct the mistake. Chief executive Jim Hopley said that high throughput and limited storage meant that the Co-op had no buffer against changes in oil prices.
‘We do not have the luxury some smaller players do of occasionally holding off price increases,’ he said.
‘What we should not have done was to have been so quick to move unleaded petrol up this weekend. My thanks to the Guernsey Press for bringing this to my attention and enabling us to adjust our price down below £1 per litre again.’
Trevor Hockey – owner of Trev’s Motorcycles, which currently sells unleaded petrol at 86.9p per litre – was shocked when he heard the price.
‘It’s incredible,’ he said. ‘It seems to me that some of the larger garages have no concern for motorists at all.
‘It’s the smaller independent garages that are offering the best deals.
‘You can draw your own conclusions.’
Mr Hockey said the 17ppl difference between his price and the Co-op’s was hard to explain.
‘For unleaded to be that expensive, I’m amazed,’ he said.
‘I have said it many times before that the cost of fuel is very volatile at the moment, but as far as I’m aware, premium unleaded has never been over £1 a litre. I was shocked when I heard.’
He said customers using garages such as L’Aumone might have to pay more because they are convenient.
‘They open until 8pm and on Sundays,’ he said. ‘The smaller ones like me and Braye Road don’t open for as many hours. The larger garages may also have bigger expenses.
‘I don’t know what they are paying for their fuel. It’s ultimately up to the consumer to hunt out the best deal.’
Mr Hockey, who has since the new year been the cheapest fuel retailer in the island, questioned whether customers at larger forecourts were getting a fair deal.
‘With my price structure, I am not exactly giving it away,’ he said.
‘I have bills and wages to pay and I make what I consider to be a fair amount of profit.’
Commerce and Employment minister Carla McNulty Bauer said there were significant price differentials in Guernsey and that drivers should shop around.
‘If I’m filling up and the price is over £1 a litre, I would think to myself that I need to look around for a better deal,’ she said.
‘Because the price of fuel has been increasing quite irrationally lately, it is definitely in customers’ interests to look at other places to make sure they get the best deal.’
Mr Hopley said that the Co-op was nearing the end of a promotion aimed at softening the blow of soaring oil prices – crude reached 129-plus dollars a barrel yesterday.
In addition to their normal 4 per cent dividend-stamp savings for members, vouchers offered £1 off a £10 fuel purchase.
‘With our promotion ending on Sunday our whole price structure on all grades of fuel will be looked at,’ he said.
Article posted on 21st May, 2008 - 2.29pm
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