The British government has been warned that fuel price increases could cause serious damage to Northern Ireland's rural economy and force some haulage companies out of business. Farmers already struggling in a depressed agricultural economy have said they are prepared to block roads to force the government to reduce prices.
In Northern Ireland, where fuel prices are consistently the most expensive in the UK, motorists have been trying to beat the price rise by filling up their tanks in anticipation of the next increase.
Mr Noel Smyth, of the Northern Ireland Petrol Retailers Association, said the huge price differential between the cost of fuel in Northern Ireland and the Republic meant many local motorists were buying their fuel in the South, while a growing number of retailers were trading in smuggled fuel.
"We estimate that around one-third of all road fuel is now being sourced in the South," Mr Smyth said. The amount of fuel being brought across the Border was having a devastating effect on Border retailers, he said.
Duty in the UK had risen by around 150 per cent over the past decade, as successive governments had continued to use fuel as an easy way of raising revenue, he said.
"Something like 75 to 80 per cent of the pump price is going to the government in the form of duty and VAT," Mr Smyth said. "That is quite unacceptable."
The regional chairwoman of the Northern Ireland Hauliers Association, Ms Val Smyth, believes the government is in a position to ease the burden on the haulage industry. She said her members were being badly affected by the high prices, and they would continue to lobby Westminster to obtain a reduction.
"The government is cutting off its nose to spite its face," Ms Smyth said. "They are forcing us to fill up in the South. It means we can save as much as £300 (€491) a time."
The Ulster Farmers' Union has condemned the increasing cost of fuel and oil, which it says is becoming "an unacceptable burden on the farming industry and the rural community". The union said the situation in Northern Ireland was considerably worse than in France. The union's president, Mr Douglas Rowe, called for the Prime Minister to allow farmers a breathing space by reducing the duty.
The average August price for unleaded fuel in the UK, 86.9p sterling, is by some way the highest in Europe, with only Norway and Finland, at 80p and 78p respectively, coming close.
In a letter to the major oil companies, Mr Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales, said many farmers regarded the companies' pricing strategies in recent weeks as little short of profiteering.
