§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain whether or not the most recent generally applied increase in the retail price of petrol was justified.
§ Mr. GrayNo. Retail petrol prices are set by the retailer, taking account of his individual circumstances including costs. Higher wholesale prices, reflecting changes in published schedule prices and removal of selective price support, are a commercial matter for the oil companies who have been reporting substantial losses on their product marketing operations.