This is the FT's Brent oil price chart tonight:
The price has hit $107 and is skyrocketing out of control again. This time, that is rational. Trump's war is creating shortages that are driving these price hikes.
Economicallty, things are going to get much worse, as I have been warning for many months, and the signs are that things are now exploding.
I am very worried. I might have predicted this, but I take no satisfaction from it happening.
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Thank the lord that we are now being protected from capitalist price gouging by our saviour, John Healey.
Thanks for the warnings Richard. I’m just wondering what an 80 year old wife and carer of an 84 year old husband with Dementia,not on a bus route,in rural Hants so relying heavily on our hybrid car can do about this…. I’m absolutely sure I’m not the only person in this position and I agree with you things are going to quickly make lives difficult for everyone who’s not one of the lucky wealthy inhabitants of this sceptres isle .
I wish I could answer that question. Can you claim carer’s allowance?
Claim attendance allowance for you husband
You can’t get paid carers allowance if you are a pensioner but you can claim it and get underlying entitlement which gives you the carer’s premium in means tested benefits such as pension credit and council tax support
You can also get a severe mental impairment exemption for your husband which means 25per cent off your council tax if he gets attendance allowance and the doctor fills in the relevant form
Send me a message if need be
Thanks, John. I will happily forward messages.
Europe nat gas is Euro83/MWh which dial in elec prices around Euro180 – 200/MWh. Ouch. & of course these sort of prices in an unreformed/deformed elec market means everything is the same price. Keep in mind, the generators will have forward bought gas so what they stuff into the CCGT probably cost Euro30 – 40/MWh – I say carruthers open another case of the bolly will you old chap, meanwhile, Euro & UK serfs pay & govs wring their hands (oooh there’s nothing we can do) and point at the regulators – Dumb, dumber and dumbest. Gonna be a cold expensive winter.
Adding. Looking at the WAY in which we reached +/- Euro80/MWhfor gas – the trend since June = Euro40/MWh (with one “correction”) has only been up. The problem is a structural one. Even if the US pulled back today (ditto the Israelis) then Europe would still have a “where do we get the gas from” problem. Keep in mind, gas (not oil) provides much of the elec (in the winter) that Europe (& the UK) uses.
Thank you
My three cheap petrol stations are not showing as at all cheap at the moment
Trump is an absolute maniac but for all that talk it is ordinary people who will suffer the world over.
Agreed
Thank you John. I do get attendance allowance plus money off council tax. We are retired teacher/ lecturer so get what I think are reasonable pensions. I guess what I was attempting to say is that life for many,many people will get much more difficult and was using our example.: ie rural communities, bus services failing us all; drs surgeries/ hospital appointments a drive away. It’s not a good time to move as it would disorientate my husband . There will be many people who need their hard earned retirement to be in a better place and we now have to find our way through thebeaurocratic minefield to obtain what we deserve. With the prospect of a much more difficult future , coming at us fast.End of rant .
Thank you for your rant.
It’s good to hear how other people are getting on – thank you for sharing.
And seeing a helpful reaction.
It reminds me that no one in a real democracy votes for their lives to be worse, and that fact should spur us on for real change.
Houston we have another problem
https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/houthis-control-bab-el-mandeb-yemen-red-sea-saudi-iran-war-oil-rcna597186
Now on the blog. Thank you.
I am a caring sort of a person so please don’t jump on me but for the sake of a discussion I got some solar panels years ago, an air-source heat pump about 2.5 years ago and a second-hand S.Korean electric car just under 2 years ago. The EV, using my home charger is about a quarter of the running costs of a similar fossil fuelled car. So I have no need of gas and much less need of oil. I find myself thinking, well at least the silver lining is that the steps needed to curb global warming will be speeded up. Also, if what the Americans call gas, (petroleum) is much more expensive there is a greater chance of the weird one being impeached. Another silver lining!
Diesel is even worse! Expect higher food prices in the autumn/winter. European diesel futures were around $199/barrel on Wednesday, an extraordinary level. The key reason isn’t just crude oil: diesel refining margins have exploded because of constrained refining and disrupted supplies from the Gulf and Russia.For perspective, Brent is around the $100–110/barrel region, while diesel is around $200/barrel. Diesel’s premium to crude recently reached about $79/barrel, compared with an average diesel refining margin of only about $21 in 2025 and $19.52 in 2024.