§ Mr. Colvin asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the prices in the retail trade of one gallon of domestic heating paraffin on 1 October for the years 1974 to 1981, inclusive.
§ Mr. Gray:I have been asked to reply.
Standard grade and premium kerosene are the products sold as domestic heating paraffin. The retail price of these two products varies between outlets. Estimates of typical delivered prices are shown in the table below.
Prices for standard grade kerosene are based on the oil marketing companies' schedule prices for a delivery load of 200 gallons in inner zone areas.
The prices for premium kerosene until October 1978 are based on the statutory controlled maximum retail prices in inner zone areas. No firm consumer price data is available for 1979, 1980 or 1981. A representative range of prices based on a number of informal estimates is therefore shown. At some retail outlets prices may fall outside the range quoted.
Estimated Retail Price of Kerosenes Standard Grade Kerosene
Pence/Gallon
Premium Kerosene Pence/Gallon
1 October 1974 21.5 28.0 1 October 1975 23.0 31.0 1 October 1976 31.0 39.5 1 October 1977 39.0 46.5 1 October 1978 39.0 46.5 1 October 1979 56.0 65—70 1 October 1980 70.5 85—95 1 October 1981 93—0 115—125