Daily AD reports (Dutch) that supermarkets are experiencing a run on vegetable oil, which car owners use instead of diesel as fuel. Super de Boer for instance noted an increase in sales between 50 and 100% in the past months. A spokes person explains that people are also hoarding vegetable oil simply because the prices are rising. Customers try and buy as much as 15 bottles in one go.
Z24 points out (Dutch) that the price of vegetable oil is rising too, so that the difference with that of diesel has decreased: vegetable oil is currently around 1.30 euro per liter, diesel around 1.46. Oil sold as fuel is taxed differently, which explains part of the price difference.
“Refreshing your car’s oil regularly is nonsense, a myth that’s been spread by the oil and car industries for years now,” says Henk de Groot. And he should know, as he is a former CEO of Castrol Nederland. Apparently all you need to do is regularly top up the oil in your car, and check it with a special dipstick that won’t just tell you the level, but also the quality of the oil, and you should be good for hundreds of thousands of miles. Luckily for all of us, Henk de Groot just happens to have invented this magical dipstick. 