§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Energy what has been the average price of oil each year since 1970.
§ Mr. GrayThe following table gives typical retail and average industrial prices for a range of petroleum products and for crude oil (cif price). Prior to 1974 the price of heavy fuel oil for industrial consumers was obtained from a variety of sources and may not be consistent with the results of a quarterly departmental survey which commenced in 1974. Gas oil prices to industry prior to 1974 are not available.
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Prices of oil Typical retail prices (pence gallon) 4 star* Derv* Gas oil† Standard grade burning oil† January 1970 33 32 8.0 8.9 January 1971 34 33 8.7 9.5 January 1972 35 34 9.8 10.7 January 1973 35 34 10.3 11.4 January 1974 42 41.5 15.4 15.4 January 1975 73 56 23.9 23.0 January 1976 77 62 29.4 29.5 January 1977 80 78 35.9 37.3 January 1978 76 84 39.5 39.1 January 1979 79 84 39.5 39.1 January 1980 120 126 58.3 58.6 Estimate October 1980 129 138 70.4 71.0
Heavy fuel oil‡ Average industrial fuel prices (£/tonnes) Gas oil‡ Crude oil (average cif price) First quarter 1970 8.3 Not available 6.6 First quarter 1971 14.0 Not available 7.9 First quarter 1972 13.6 Not available 8.6 First quarter 1973 12.0 Not available 9.6 First quarter 1974 23.6 43.2 27.5 First quarter 1975 38.8 55.0 36.3 First quarter 1976 41.5 63.0 46.8 First quarter 1977 53.3 76.1 58.7 First quarter 1978 52.8 80.6 52.8 First quarter 1979 51.5 83.4 54.8 First quarter 1980 88.6 134.7 101.0 Third quarter 1980 911 154.9 106.8 * Department of Energy retail price survey. † Typical prices in London area for deliveries of 2275 litres and 900 litres of gas oil and standard grade burning oil respectively. ‡ From First quarter 1974 prices are based on a survey of 800 large industrial consumers.