Shell hopes to power into premium

V-Power - sounds like a throat lozenge or a high-strength laxative but is in fact the new premium fuel from Shell. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant - in the papers of late over errant claims of oil reserves - says its new V-Power fuel can clean your engine valves and return performance back to "as new".

It's the replacement for the Pura range and comes just as competition here is hotting up and traditional players seek to put as much space as possible between their products and new aggressive competitors such as Tesco.

Suggestions that the new fuel has been launched to counter competition is supported by the fact it's only on sale on the Irish market - in Britain a similar product has been marketed as Optimax.

Shell says the price premium for V-Power will be around 5 cents compared to the average 8 cents difference between standard unleaded and Pura. The Pura sales pitch focussed on the fact it had a relatively low sulphur content of 50 parts per million (ppm). However, these days the industry standard is around 50ppm.

Shell claims the new fuel is targetting drivers who want to get their engine back to its peak. Yet, with the onset of a price war, it's hard to see how V-Power will distract attention from the attractive prices on offer elsewhere.