Oil moves push up price of crude

By PETER CRIPPS
Published on Monday 20 February 2012 11:01

Moves by Iran to stop sending oil to the UK and France pushed the price of crude to a nine-month high today, potentially spelling more bad news for businesses.

Iran was reacting after the European Union imposed sanctions on it amid fears it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was up more than 1.5 per cent to $104.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest since May.

This helped the FTSE 100 Index to rise 0.6 per cent in early trading, with oil giant BP among the biggest risers, up nearly 2 per cent. Its shares pushed above 500p at points today, their highest level for a year.

But the escalation in oil prices spells more bad news for motorists, already struggling with record diesel prices of 143.05p per litre.

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hughwdunlop

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 06:27 PM

As I remember, about 8 years ago the price of a barrel of oil was about $140 yet pump prices were far from the current levels. Is this due to increased taxation and VAT? When diesel cars were first introduced the government promoted them on the cheapness of diesel, and gave subsidies in the region of £2000 or more to buyers of new diesel cars. I stated at the time that this was just a cynical ploy to have the majority of motorists reliant on diesel before pushing up the price. Now, where's my crystal ball so that I can foretell the future of electric cars?

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