Why is petrol so dear near the refinery?

I thought oil prices in the main were set by opec.

Recently I have come to the conclusion that they take their lead from garages in Co Cork, particularly Midleton, where prices go up usually in advance of any rise in the market and stay up longer than anywhere else.

In recent weeks I have been in Dublin and Rosslare a few times.

I noticed that prices were lower at most stations on the road to Dublin, including the Naas road. The same goes for Waterford, New Ross, etc.

The difference was fairly steep, too — sometimes up to 8 cents per litre on diesel, for example.

In old measurements, this works out at approximately 35 cents per gallon, which would make many people take notice. But the change to litres has worked really well for the petrol stations.

I thought the justification for price difference on petrol was the distance from the refinery — but that is hardly the case in Midleton which is only a few miles from Whitegate.

Is the constant rise in diesel prices compared with petrol due to the large number of diesel vehicles on the road now? The price difference is so little it would suggest there’s a cosy cartel.

Wayne Fitzpatrick

Castleredmond

Midleton

Co Cork