WHAT ARE HAULIERS PAYING?
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• Using his Esso fleet card on the Scottish mainland, Ewen Campbell can get diesel for 63.83p a litre (ex-VAT). In his home base of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, it costs him 70.5p at the Esso filling station. Walker Owens {pictured, right) of ()ban Express says he can pay as much as 74p a litre: in the central belt of Scotland its probably something closer to 61p.
There is undoubtedly a degree of regional variation in the Highlands and Islands. "In the past there has been a significant differential between the Inverness/ Moray Firth area and the west coast," says Nigel MacKenzie of the Highland Council.
There are other anomalies, he continues. Diesel in Elgin can be considerably cheaper than in
Inverness, for example. This is odd for two reasons: one, Elgin is less than 40 miles from Inverness; and two, Inverness is the main supply point for fuel into the region.
There has been a degree of Government intervention to help "end-of-the-line" filling stations, with the new Scottish Executive committed to grant aid of .2700,000 a year for three years, but whether this will have any real effect on prices in remote locations is a moot point. "Increasing storage capacity must decrease oil companies' costs," MacKenzie says. "But there is no real evidence that this is passed on to the consumer in these areas."