Gordon Brown attacked over oil price rises, pump prices soar ... OPEC blamed

The Guradian headlines again ... "Oil .. puts heat on Brown",

Motoring organisations yesterday called on Gordon Brown to defer ... rise in fuel duty after a surprise production .... sent crude prices rocketing..blah,blah,blah.....

With prices at the pump already up blah , blah ........ analysts warned of further increases in store for drivers following Opec's announcement......... blah, blah ....

Mr Brown is expected to announce a 1.28p a litre rise in fuel duty....The increase was planned for the Budget but delayed for six months ...blah...blah

"This is very much a triple whammy for the motorist and even a quadruple whammy if you happen to drive a diesel-powered vehicle," said RAC Foundation traffic and road safety manager Kevin Delaney. Lorry drivers' organisations said the rise would add... to the cost of running a heavy goods vehicle.

"The government must take a sensible and flexible approach to road fuel taxation and make tax decisions in the light of the prevailing oil prices rather than treating road users as the taxpayer of last resort," said Freight Transport Association chief economist Simon Chapman.

But, with the public finances stretched and a delayed duty increase built into the arithmetic, Mr Brown is not expected to forgo the extra.......revenue...... blah, blah .. tax...

With the UK-US governing coalition promising further increases in Iraq's exports, Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said at OPEC meeting ... "It is better that we start before we witness a very bad situation in the market." //blah. blah ....oil prices rise ... blah ...blah

But what is this ?

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 122 points to 9,454 within minutes of the opening bell. In London ... the FTSE 100 index still managed to break a three-day losing streak to close up 14.7 points to 4,236.4.

Prices rose on the decision, causing jitters in global stock markets. In London, benchmark Brent crude for November delivery rose by $1.21 to $26.73 a barrel, while in New York US light, sweet crude was trading at $28.40 a barrel, up $1.27.

Yes! That's the Guradian p 22, 25 September 2003. FIVE YEARS AGO Petrol Price AA September 2003 Unleaded 95 (regular) UK average price was 76.6 /litre = £3.48 Gallon. Toni Fabuloso just filled up the Aston Martin DB4 with Regular 95 at Tesco @ 113.9 p /litre ... the Footsie was up 40 at 6109 five minutes ago and Texas sweet Crude was US$126 / barrel.