FuelClub Discount

With the average cost of diesel fuel edging toward $5 per gallon, one California county is trying to protect itself from a growing rash of diesel thefts.

In just the past few months, Kern County, Calif., has lost more than $280,000 worth of fuel to thieves, said police, although the problem is not exclusive to the area.

Kern County Detective Gary William called this an epidemic that won’t be getting better anytime soon. “I attribute it to the economy; I attribute it to the upswing of the price of fuel,” he said.

Police in Kern County, whose crops include potatoes and oranges, have set up a task force to combat the problem and are encouraging farmers and growers to report any thefts.
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American Airlines on Wednesday raised its fuel surcharge by $20 per round trip, after a failed attempt to raise fares, according to reports.

Spokesman Tim Wagner said the surcharge would apply on domestic routes except those where the carrier competes with low-fare airlines.

American, a subsidiary of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), and several other airlines attempted to raise fares by $20 over the weekend, but failed as some carriers didn’t match the increases.
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According to the oil producers’ cartel Opec, the blame lies with speculators in the international markets. But Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, describes that view as “a myth”.

He argues that the main cause is the tight balance between global supply and demand.

BP’s new Statistical Review of World Energy - a key information source for many people in the industry - highlights what has been going on.
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Motorists in the UK have suffered from a far higher rise in petrol prices than their European neighbours, according to a report on Wednesday.

The cost of unleaded petrol has risen by 20 per cent in the UK over the last year, a far greater increase than across the Continent, where prices have risen by just 14 per cent.

In Italy and Germany prices have risen by less than 10 per cent.

The research by the Post Office Travel Services – which has stripped out the volatile effects of exchange rates - has led to accusations that British motorists have been left out of pocket by punative tax rises. Only Dutch motorists have to pay more tax than the British, according to the AA.
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Q: What is the dispute about?

A: Unite, the union representing 641 drivers, is claiming a 13 per cent rise. It says their pay - ?32,000 a year - has not gone up since 1992 even though hours are longer. This is disputed by the employers who say drivers’ average earnings are ?36,000.

Q: Who is involved in the dispute?

A: Unite is officially in dispute with two haulage companies, Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport but it says the real argument is with Shell. The union accuses the oil company of hiding behind its contractors. This is denied by Shell.
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A Portuguese truck driver was killed while manning a strikers’ road block on Tuesday as a global backlash over high fuel prices escalated on Tuesday.

Europe remained the epicenter of a movement begun by fishermen, with lorry drivers’ pickets at the Spain-France border causing massive disruption to fuel, food and even parts deliveries for industrial output.

However, the global and fluctuating pattern of workers’ action was underlined as a second day of protests by government workers in India left around 20 people injured — police again using batons and water cannon to quell popular anger, with dozens detained.
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