Monday 26 March 2012

Petrol Rationing.



We already have water usage restrictions in place for next month, and I quite expect fuel rationing plans are being drawn-up at the Elysée Palace, La Maison Blanche, and Whitehall.

Last week I filled the (petrol) tank of the Compact Royce, at a cost of nearly €100, and my friend Craig informs me that he has recently seen petrol at €2 per litre on sale nearby.

Above is a petrol rationing book that was issued to my mother in 1956 during the Suez crisis, and (I imagine) never used. If certain middle-eastern problems persist, I can well imagine we'll be seeing them again.

If the price of petrol does go through the roof, I see only a few options. Live in town, buy a horse, or invest in an expensive pair of hob-nailed walking boots. I certainly won't be using the Compact Royce as regularly as at present. I simply won't be able to afford it!


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21 comments:

  1. Apparently, according to the news, petrol is being stockpiled by countries in preparation for expected future shortages and future price rises. It was expected that since tensions with Iran have somewhat decreased recently, countries, especially in the East, are expecting the worst. Doesn't look good for ordinary folk...

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  2. I have already got my bicycle out of its winter hibernation using it to go to the allotment every day - that saves a bit of petrol. Trouble is, we live in the middle of nowhere, no shops, no buses etc. without a car we are stymied.

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    1. Just like here, Elaine. Maybe I'll buy a Moped.

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    2. 8 years ago I went to Moped route to get around the high cost of gasoline. I ended up in terrible accident with a car! Beware the moped, my friend, you have no protection on one of those things. I spent many months bed ridden and several surgeries endured. It's not worth it.

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  3. Brings back memories of being a sprog in the early seventies when a certain garage on the A1 was rationing passing customers to one gallon each at £5 ... my father told the "gentleman" exactly where he could store his gallon and we pushed the car back to Lincolnshire.

    I notice that Her Majesty's thugs here are adding another 3p a litre to their cut from September - total tax per gallon-as-we-know-it is now over £4 out of the average £6.72 price in rural Ingerlund. Consider that this tax is also paid out of tax-paid income too... UK minimum legal wage is £6.08 per hour by comparison! Can't imagine France to be any cheaper either.

    Vive la Révolution!

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  4. Could be worse. You could still have the 3.5 Rover...

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  5. As the price of fuel at the pumps continues to rise, I console myself by saying that it is still not as expensive as a pint of Guinness (which I don't drink). I do however get a lot pleasure from a jaunt in the car.

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  6. I've got a bicycle which Is ok as long as you don't go over any potholes. I'm still wearing the saddle after last time.

    A couple of years ago I bought a diesel van 'cause diesel was cheaper then, only to have this fuel jump over petrol prices the next day. For f***s sake!

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  7. We are running around $1.32 a litre here. I don't know how that compares with the pound. We don't drive a whole lot in the winter months..just the basics really but it will bite the big one if our prices rocket over the summer.

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  8. that is roughly, $130 (ish) a tank full. Yikes!!
    Those prices could really influence politics in the US. But I'd much rather pay that than have a version of the Taliban in control in Washington.

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  9. Good grief, Cro!

    I don't drive much these days, since i telecommute, and i'm very thankful for that. Even so, everything here is shipped via lorries, so i've no doubt we'll see increasing prices on everything to pay for transport costs as well as paying more at the pump.

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  10. Here they raise the prices, but we can buy at will and suffer the costs. I kind of like the idea of a ration card, because it would make us more conscious of how much we use.

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  11. I know the feeling. My husband travels round trip to work 100 miles (~161km)per day. It really hits us hard in the pocket book.

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  12. With the fattening of America going on, it might be a good thing if more of us walked.

    We have a VW diesel. It does get us 40 miles to the gallon, but the gas is more expensive. I drive as little as possible, but living where I do in the countryside, and not having the facilities to have a horse, a car is a necessity.

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  13. Like Kat, I have to travel for work - I'm doing about 120 km per day...I fill up our car once a week (today the cost was 1.42€ a litre) and it takes a great chunk out of my pay. Not only that, but I have 10€ of Autoroute péage as well! In fact I have to teach for 2 hours before I've recuperated the cost of my travel to work. Serves us right for not thinking carefully enough about where I'd work before we bought the house!

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  14. Last summer when gas was too high, I saw a woman older than I come out of a bank parking lot and toodle up the road on a motor scooter. Looked like a vintage Cushman, built for comfort, not for speed. I'm getting close.....

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  15. we in the US pay the equivalent of 3.26 Euro for a gallon of gas. A sharp increase for us and we expect it to go much higher.

    In the 1970s we had gas rationing that I remember well. Long lines, fights broke out, people were stealing gas from other people's tanks. Two things happened: we started to make and drive smaller cars and cars now came with locking gas tank caps.

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  16. it worries me cro...
    as a rural dweller... we need petrol so much... with no shop in the village.....no animal feed shop... no fuel.....
    if things ever go "tits up" we are f*cked!

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  17. This worried me cro
    no shop in the village! no animal feed outlet...
    we rural dwellers should be allowed to get petrol before anyone else if there is a shortage

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  18. Yipes. After seeing what you have to pay for gas, Cro, I'll stop complaining about the price we have to pay here. Too bad you can't make fuel out of butternut squash or mushrooms.

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  19. I remembered the news about the rationing there 2 years ago, and we pretty much had the same problem here whe the hurricane Sandy struck. Rationing is bad and it reminds us how vulnerable we are in times of an energy problem. As they say, preparation is key! And I can't emphaisze that enough. Kenny @ ApacheOilCompany.com

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