Written question asked by Jeremy Browne (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 17 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 23 October 2007. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Monday, 29 October 2007 on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Fuels: Prices

Question: (2) what accountability mechanisms his Department uses to ensure the fair and competitive pricing of petrol; what complaint procedures are in place to allow customers to challenge regional variations in pricing; and if he will make a statement;

Answer: [holding answer 22 October 2007]: The Department has discussions with companies and representative associations in the downstream oil sector on a wide range of issues. BERR does not collect information on regional petrol prices. A range of factors determine retail petrol and diesel prices. Price differentials between rural and urban areas reflect different costs in distributing and supplying petrol and diesel. Price setting is a commercial matter for individual companies. The Office of Fair Trading continues to monitor the UK petrol market to ensure that anti-competitive behaviour does not occur. Customers should refer any complaints concerning pricing and anti-competitive behaviour to the Office of Fair Trading. In the past five years there has been one investigation, carried out by the Office of Fair Trading in 2006, and this did not result in any action against the companies concerned.

Secondary information