Why does diesel seem to be increasing in price faster than petrol?

This answer is pritty simple...

More and more diesel cars are being purchased ( 65% of new vehicles bought are now Diesel), we have less Diesel refineries than we have Petrol and our refineries cannot keep up with demand therefore as a country we must import Diesel from Russian, Baltic States and USA to keep up with demand and therefore they pass on the cost to us the consumer, hence as diesel vehicles increase and production of diesel in the uk doesnt (although they are building new refineries), the price countinues to rise as we import more.

Did you know that we import Diesel from the USA in return for exporting our Petrol since their demand outstrips what supply their refinies can supply petrol at?

I had a diesel car in the late 70's and they were few and far between, the pumps were well out of sight and trucks filled up with them, diesel was up to 20 pence cheaper now it's 20 pence dearer, it makes no sense does it cost 40 pence more to produce no it costs less, its a con by this government.

Tax.

Twenty years ago, diesel cars were not popular, so the Government earned very little by taxing diesel fuel. The tax on diesel was comparatively low

Now 65% of all cars on the road are diesels. The Government has gradually increased tax on diesel, in order to earn more money from the diesel-driving motorist.

True diesel is dearer than petrol, it was the chancellors faulty (Gordon Brown), he stated that the particulates from deisel was greater than from petrol engines. He at the time (cannot remember which budget speach it was) that deisel taxation would be 10pence dearer in tax and would remain so on green isues. This was to discourage car drivers from buying diesel powered cars (why because you get more miles per gallon thus a lose in revenue) and if people changed to deisel he would lose a lot of revenue from fuel. Sneaky huh?

Because of all the refining that now has to be done. The epa passed a law that lowered the amount of sulphur that is allowed in diesel fuel. It was done in hopes to cut down on diesel emissions, and reduce the black smoke.

Plus it is supply and demand. The sale of diesel powered pick-ups has grown a lot in the past 5 years.

Interesting, a few people have noted this. Like you say diesel is less refined so should be cheaper to produce. The only thing that could be bumping it up I reckon is demand, Petrol vehicles number less than diesel when you factor in trucks and boats etc.

This baffles me constantly. Here in the u.s., not many years ago, diesel was nearly half the price of regular unleaded. Now it's 60-80 cents higher per gallon.

I've heard it takes 2 gallons of diesel to make one gallon of gas, and also that diesel can be considered a 'by product' of making gas. I don't know how much truth there is to that, but it seems logical.

I guess the oil companies have figured out someone will buy it no matter what they charge. More record profits for them, yippee.

It will be nice to have another alternative, I just don't see one coming for a while....especially with heavy commercial trucks.

Diesel is gaining in popularity so the price goes up as demand does, it is also used as a heating source and in generators across the globe as living standards rise across the globe.

I don't think it is, where I'm from it's still about 10p more expensive. Been like that now for ages.

because deisel last longer and is made for trucks so they really need the power and it has more power in it.