Sir, - Your edition of December 21st tells me oil prices are at a seven-month low, falling from $36 a barrel to $24.85, a drop of 31 per cent. Prices at the pumps have fallen from 73.8p a litre to 69.5p, a fall of 5.8 per cent, mainly due to a reduction in taxation.
Why do we once again tolerate being ripped off? Having worked in the oil business in the Far East, I know there is no more than an average time-span of eight weeks between oil well and pumps. So we have been subsidising the "Oil Giants" to the tune of 25 per cent for a five-month period without a murmur.
We have 7 per cent inflation - and we deserve it! - Yours, etc.,
Paddy O'Halloran, The Green, Seapoint, Wicklow.