Now that motor-spirit has become a necessary of life in
every civilized country, the methods of the petrol industry deserve close investigation. A Board of Trade Committee has reported this week that the world's supply of petrol is in the hands of two powerfill combines, the Standard Oil Company and the Royal Dutch Shell Group, and that the League of Nations ought to consider how they may best be controlled. The Committee finds that " the present high prices for motor-fuel are mainly due to a demand which is tending to outstrip the world's present supply, and that advantage is being taken of this tendency by powerful financial interests to raise prices." The profits on production, transport, and distribution, which are controlled by the combines, appear to the Committee to be alike excessive. The retail price of petrol, which is now 3s. 80., should be fixed at 2s. 100. a gallon, including the import duty of sixpence.
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