HC Deb 04 May 1954 vol 527 c172
2. Mr. Crouch

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will ask the Monopolies Commission to hold an inquiry into the prices charged by the petrol and oil companies.

15. Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

asked the President of the Board of Trade what action he will take, through the Monopolies Commission or otherwise, in view of the excessive prices charged by oil companies for petrol.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

Without accepting the implication that prices for petroleum products are excessive, I will continue to bear in mind the supply of these products as a possible subject for a reference to the Monopolies Commission.

Mr. Crouch

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the price of petrol and fuel oil is an important factor in the cost-of-living index, and is he satisfied that there is genuine competition and not a number of private arrangements between the big oil companies?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I am bearing this question in mind.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

With a view to helping the right hon. Gentleman to come to a decision more quickly, will he bear in mind the costly ballyhoo by which the oil companies bamboozle motorists into paying fancy prices for mysterious ingredients which are supposed to pep up the petrol, but which seem to be pretexts merely to pep up the price?

Mr. Thorneycroft

That might be outside the scope of the Monopolies Commission.

Mr. Stokes

In view of the fact that Persian Gulf oil is again in the news and that its cost of production is one-third that of American oil, will the Minister make representations so that some of us may have the cheaper oil from the Persian Gulf instead of having to buy American oil at prices which are artificially kept up?

Mr. Thorneycroft

That is rather wide of the Question.