UK Petroleum Industry Association               

10^th December2009

PRESS RELEASE                   

Pre Budget Report 2009 - Road Fuel Duty Changes   

The Chancellor in his Pre Budget Report confirmed that duty rates for main road fuel will increase on 1 April 2010 to 2013 by 1p per litre above indexation in each year. Also, as announced at Budget 2008, the current 20p per litre duty differential for biodiesel and bioethanol for road use will cease from 1 April 2010, and duty will thereafter be charged at the same rate as main road fuels.

Secondary legislation will be introduced to maintain the 20p per litre duty differential for biodiesel produced only from waste cooking oils for two years. The price of 'buying out' of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will increase to 30p per litre from 2010 -11. VAT is also charged on the pump price, and will increase to 17.5% on 1 January 2010.

The main changes affecting fuels and road transport are as follows:

1. Fuel duty on unleaded petrol and diesel will increase by 1p per litre above the level of indexation on and from 1April 2010.

2. The current duty differential of 20p per litre for road biofuels will cease from 1 April 2010.

3. The duty differential of 20p per litre will continue for biodiesel made from used cooking oils for two years.

To read more click here

Ends

Enquiries to: Nick Vandervell: Tel. 0207 269 7604

Notes to editors:

1. UKPIA represents the oil refining and marketing companies operating in the UK, which also own approximately 2,190 of the UK's 9,264 service stations.
2. UKPIA members own and operate the nine crude oil processing refineries in the UK.
3. The description "biofuel" is a generic one used to describe liquid or gas fuels that are not derived from petroleum based fossils fuels or contain a proportion of non fossil fuel. Biofuels fall into two main categories - conventional biofuels produced from plants - crops such as sugar cane/beet      for ethanol and palm oil, rape seed oil or reprocessed vegetable oils for biodiesel - and advanced biofuels from gasified biomass. At present, most biofuels fall into the conventional category. More information can be found on UKPIA's website: www.ukpia.com.