Richard Lutz wonders if our priorities are going down the drain

Yesterday I was driving through the middle of England and without realising how dumb I sounded, reeling off the numbers:

116.9, 112.4, 119, 114.5

Yes, I was looking at diesel prices per litre on the garage forecourts. Worried friends and troubled relatives point out that if I do find the lowest price, I might just save an extra £1.50 ($2.50)  per tank and that does put things in quick perspective when I realise I can buy a cheeseburger for under a quid.

The price of oil is all over the place in the media and it really stretches us in two ways: it can be mean lower fuel costs for the car, lower power bills, lower supermarket prices, a happier domestic budget.

But as the economy tumbles over the lowered price per barrel of worldwide oil, it means the global outlook could look dire. Add to this, the fact that countries such as the US and the UK are working hard to frack their way through the planet to bring us even lower prices and you have a real conundrum.

As technology improves, as each and every local media unthinkingly crows how ABC Engineering is developing a better drill, a better gas detection unit, an improved widget for the offshore rigs that will bring more jobs and prosperity, it means oil will  cheapen even more.

And I guess that will mean in Britain the price of a litre of petrol  going below £1  for the first the first since 2009.

But if this happens,  it will mean even more shaky international markets and more wobbly planetwide economic worries. And that, ultimately, will hit our pockets too.

Well, below are a bunch of facts that may reveal just how lopsided values are when it comes to the need for fuel and the need to drink a mouthful of water. It comes from a friend who passed it on.

How can you make a rational decision when numbers add up like this:

*A barrel of oil is defined as 42 US gallons, which is about 159 litres.
*Brent OIl is currently priced at about $51 dollars a barrel 
*That makes a price per litre of 51/159 = 32 cents per litre.
*According to Bloomberg $1 equals 66 pence, 32 cents is therefore 22 pence.
*Sainsburys sell at retail  Evian Water at £0.04/100ml, i.e. 40 pence a litre

*And that’s more than the price of oil