The amount of tax levied on fuel in equivalent to around 4 times the cost of production - simply put, it's a 400% tax. True, oil companies make "billions per quarter" but the cost of reinvestment in oil production/discovery/exploitation is ridiculously high and profit margins are comparatively low, the real killer is the taxation.
If income tax were at the same level as fuel taxation you would owe the government 4 times your gross salary each year in taxes. It's this situation which needs redress, not the profits of the oil companies.
¹ Why is there no duty on petrochemical fuels for rail?
² Why is the duty on petrochemical fuels for air travel so pitifully small compared with road?
³ Why is there such a small duty for LPG compared with other road fuels when, mile per mile, the alleged pollutants are pretty much on a par?
Every litre of diesel / petrol / heavy fuel oil / kerosene / heating oil / LPG burned liberates exactly the same amount of carbon as every other litre of the same stuff (refining tolerances notwithstanding) so why is the duty payable, given that they're selling the justification on an environmental basis, different based on which use it's put to? It makes no sense, other than we, the motorist, are the easiest target.
Funnily enough, the way to make both the oil companies and the governments sit up and pay attention is the same:
A coordinated consumer switch to a
single supplier. If we all buy our fuels (road and heating) from one retail supplier - example BP (as they're going to need the money soon anyway) - the others are going to be brought to the brink of insolvency within weeks at most and the attendant tax losses and job losses are what will get the attention of the governments.
The biggest problem there is the coordination - if anyone has any ideas, I'm in
