I would have had the money to install a new central heating system if Gordon Brown had not raided the pension fund so I only got two thirds of the pension I paid in for.
If he wants to return to power he should start looking at the interests of the British people and stop wasting our taxes on harebrained foreign aid and environmental schemes.

D Cage, Highworth, Wilts UK

You are all missing the point of the article. The poor and elderly do not have the spare money to install a new central heating system. Electricity is also an expensive fuel which is increasing in price. One litre of oil has about 10 kw of energy, so unless your electricity costs less than 5p a unit it would be even more expensive to run. Mains gas is just not available in the country.

Eric Downer, honiton, Devon

I thought Global Warming took care of that heating oil problem. According to the GW alarmists we really need more and higher fuel taxes to discourage us peons from burning more fossil fuel and thus releasing more CO2. Until these are enacted we will just have to suffer through these warm winters.

RH Robinson MD, Merced, California, USA

A mate of mine tells me he can fill up his 4 litre SUV in Dubai for under a tenner, so don't tell me that oil prices, or speculation in oil if you prefer, is the reason why we pay so much here.

Redcliffe, London,

Please explain to me how a speculator who cannot reduce supply by taking physical delivery of a commodity (i.e. any futures they buy to take advantage of a future price increase must be sold prior to expiry) can influence its physical price?

It's like arguing that people who bet on a roulette wheel make their choice of number more likely to come up isn't it?

Paul Anderson, London, UK

The present price surge in oil is partly, or largely, due to current political & financial problems. But in the medium let alone the long term the outlook is far more serious. We will shortly reach peak oil production, after which it will rapidly decline. The global consequences, particularly for transport & food production, do not seem to be grasped by government or business.

Dave, Wrexham,

Oil prices are not just high because of increasing demand, it's also because global supply has hit a ceiling, and will start to decline soon. Google "peak oil" to find out more about it.

Although the tax on petrol and diesel is high, it has the effect of insulating us from a proportion of the price rises, as the percentage increase due to rising oil prices is not so much. For comparison, see the figures in the story above for heating oil, which has seen a shocking rise. Anyway, as oil production declines over the coming years, starting pretty much right now, we are going to have to use less fuel anyway - it simply won;t be available, at least not at a price people can afford. So we'd better get used to it. You could even argue for higher taxes on fuel, with the money put into reducing demand and building alternative energy sources that do not depend on imports.

Mike

Mike Pepler, Rye, UK

"Given the extra money rolling into the Treasury from rising fuel duty on rising oil prices, couldn't some of it be directed towards those most in need of help with fuel bills this winter?"

Sounds sensible - but it will never happen. The countryside doesn't vote Labour,t so its views and sufferings count for nothing under Gutless Gordon!

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

From reading this article you'd think that electric powered central heating boilers didn't exist. If the running costs of an oil system are as high as this article claims,its probably time for people to consider switching over.

Steve, Reading, UK

Yes, the price of oil for heating is a lot more important than that of petrol for the motorist. Alice is also right to draw a distinction between rural areas, where a car is often essential, from urban ones where often it is not. The sensible course would be to introduce congestion charging in cities and suburbs, using the proceeds to improve public transport alternatives; then freeze or reduce fuel tax to benefit country dwellers.

Barry, Wallington, UK

Personally, I'm outraged at the rising price of peat, coal and clarified butter. It's my right to heat my house however I want to, and the government should bend its knee to ensure that I am able to enjoy my backward technology until I am cold in the ground.

Neil, London,

Petrol at 35p a litre (production, distribution and retailer costs) is a good buy - its the crippling tax of 66p (nearly twice as much again)
which makes it so expensive. Its not surprising that the oil companies feel aggrieved when people blame them for the high price at the pumps - but the remedy is in their own hands. The filling stations should display the price in a more transparent way
"unleaded 35p a litre plus tax (66p)". Buyers would thus see more clearly just who is taking them to the cleaners. I can't think why they (the oil companies) don't do this - have they been leaned on ?

John Driscoll, Slough, UK

The people you dismiss as "speculators" are mostly refinery operators who are buying futures today so as to minimize the risk of crude going up in the near future.

Far from being "speculative", futures operations tend to smooth out the market. They allow buyers to lock in a guaranteed price today so that they can plan their business, and the allow sellers of oil to lock in a guaranteed price for delivery in the future so that they can plan their budgets.

Everyone does this type of "speculation", from farmers who sell produce forward, to miners, who sell base and precious metals, to exporters who buy foreign currency in the futures market.

But it's so much easier to come up with a sensational story by throwing around the word "speculator", isn't it. It's intellectually lazy and misleading to your readers, but isn't it so much easier than telling the whole truth.

Oh yes, and very sloppy and very British.

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/US

Will people find their backbone and stand up and challenge this government? I seriously doubt it.

We've done it before, and we've been knocked down.

We tried fuel protests, what did we get, complained at by the very people we're trying to save money for.

We tried it for the poll tax, what did we get, the council tax.

We tried standing up with the miners, what did we get, no more pits.

No point standing up to be counted, we'll just get knocked down again.

Accept it, we have no backbone in this country any more.

Arthur, Newcastle,

The more signals we have that encourage people to break the fossil fuel habit, the better. If anything, tax on oil and its byproducts should be raised.

David McGregor, Fitzroy, Australia

Speculation premiums in oil pricing are indeed a serious problem and one that the government has, unsurprisingly, said nothing about as it is an indirect beneficiary. There is a crunch coming on UK fuel pricing. However, in the longer term, some solution will have to be found for rural heating. As you say, Alice, heating oil has no duty, only 5% VAT. 1000 litres of kerosene at 40p/l gives a mere £20 to the Treasury, and £400 to the oil suppliers. The problem is the base price of oil, which may go down a little for a while but will never be cheap again because of huge demand increases elsewhere. We suffer from very poorly built houses in the UK and one thing the government could do is sort this out for the poor. Generous free insulation upgrades for poor pensioners would help a lot, as would a means tested increase in fuel allowance to (say) £500 per year. Not everyone needs a fuel allowance but certainly there are many who do. We should not neglect them.

Colin, Shrewsbury,

I'm 37, work and my wife and I have children.
I'm due in court for the second time for non-payment of council tax totalling £1400.
I used to be able to stay on top of the CT but with the price of gas, electric, petrol and council tax going through the ceiling I cant do it anymore, something had to give and it was CT.
I need the car (1 litre Fiesta) to drive my wife to work and myself, we work far from home
I need to keep us warm when I get home
Council tax was the one that has to whistle.

Its not just the OAP's that are suffering.

So thanks a lot New Labour for sending the bailiffs in, clearing me out and quite possibly sending me and/or my wife to prison.

And to think I voted you guys in the first time around. Nice work.

Phill Barlow, The Wirral, England