Taxi Driver Online

Islanders hit by oil thefts as fuel prices ricket
May 27 2008

OIL rustlers in the Outer Hebrides are cashing in on sky-high prices by nicking thousands of pounds worth of heating fuel from tanks outside homes.

More than a dozen oil thefts have been reported since January. The crooks have struck on Lewis, Harris and Benbecula.

One victim of the rustlers said: "It's a pretty shocking theft, but with the price of oil there's going to be more of this."

Locals in the Outer Hebrides have to endure the highest fuel prices in Britain. The price of diesel hit 142p a litre on Benbecula last week and the cost of heating oil has doubled since last year. A full tank of domestic fuel oil now costs more than £800.

Sergeant Alasdair Macrae, of Western Isles Police, said: "We don't know what is happening to the stolen fuel but inquiries are ongoing.

"The rise in the price of petrol has seen an increase in these incidents. It's difficult to say if they are connected."

On the radio today folks were saying their oil heating fuel bill had gone up from £600/700 a tank full to over a grand, in the space of a year.

FFS one has to wonder where and when this will end.

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IDFIMH

Can't understand how the price of kerosene has gone up as much as petrol and diesel. Kerosene is free of fuel duty because it's classed as heating fuel, some airlines use it as jet fuel to because it's free of duty.

The recent increases have nothing to do with the amount of duty that is added to the fuel, it is linked to the increased price of the raw material, crude oil. If the base cost of crude goes up then everything that is derived from crude goes up.

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Grandad,

The most OBVIOUS thing that goes up with the price of oil is the Tax - and that includes the VAT on top of that. So I would say that has everything to do with the amount of duty charged.

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

Poster Nigel pointed out that this fuel does not have any duty at all. If it is heating fuel then it will only have 5% VAT.

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Grandad,

Is that some of your cowboys from the weege robbing the sheep shaggers in the Outer Hebrides?

What the feck are you lot like

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

The taxis up there are running well on it allegedly