Petrol (Hansard, 26 April 1989)

§ 14. Mr. Heddle
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the effect of the current level of duty differential between leaded and unleaded petrol on sales of unleaded petrol.

§ 21. Mr. Rost
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the level of demand for unleaded petrol in(a) January 1987 and (b) the most recent date for which figures are available.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
Uptake figures for the first full month after the Budget increase in duty differential in favour of unleaded petrol will not be available until the end of April. In the month to mid-March unleaded petrol accounted for 6.4 per cent. of the market. I understand from the United Kingdom Petroleum Industries Association that its provisional figures for the whole of March show a market share (on a slightly different basis) of 9.3 per cent. This amounts to more than a hundredfold increase since figures were first made available in April 1987.

§ 26. Mr. Rowe
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of garages in England now stock unleaded petrol.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
There has been a tenfold increase in outlets for unleaded petrol since March of last year and the United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association advises me that 38 per cent. of filling stations now stock the fuel.

§ 76. Mr. Neil Hamilton
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the level of demand for unleaded petrol at the latest date for which figures are available.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire (Mr. Heddle) today.