This time last week, our team of Agricultural Fuel and Lubricant specialists were welcoming farmers from all over the country on to the Rix stand in hall 5 at LAMMA 2015.

While Rix Petroleum are out delivering rural homes with domestic heating oil and farms with Gas Oil, we can’t help but notice the beauty of the countryside our customers live in. From the Scottish Highlands to the forests in the Midlands, every drive is teeming with wildlife and breath taking views.

Every January, we all set ourselves impressive goals that we have every half-intention of achieving in the coming 12 months. Then, in December, we will remark how the time flies and wave a nonchalant hand at every naysayer who reminds us of said list that mysteriously vanished as of February 1.

Rix Petroleum will be exhibiting once again at LAMMA 2015. In 2015 LAMMA takes place on the 21st and 22nd January and you will be able to see Rix on stand 513 in Hall 5.

OPEC members got together last week against a back-drop of startling falls in the oil price but still decided to maintain current production levels, with a further meeting planned in 3 months’ time. This to “re-assess the market and make an appropriate decision at that time”. On hearing the news, the market reacted swiftly and prices dropped by a staggering $4 per barrel in 2 hours (over 2.5 pence per litre) on 27th November. The logic is simple; with the world now awash with crude oil, only OPEC members have the power to immediately cut supply and put a floor on oil prices. And when they didn’t, prices crashed. This continues to be good news however for the end consumer, fuel tanks for cars are cheaper to fill up and so is the price of heating oil, especially good news as we fast approach Christmas and the middle of winter approaches.

Ah Christmas, don’t you just love it? Family, friends, gifts and enough food and booze to sink a battle ship. And who could forgot naff films, Christmas specials and falling asleep in front of the Queen’s speech. What a way to end the year.

Wooler resident Brian Thompson will receive an early Christmas gift this year thanks to Rix Petroleum Ltd and the Northumberland Gazette.

The oil price movements in October were certainly significant . With conflict gripping the usual oil hot-spots (The Middle East, North Africa, Russia) it seems a fair enough question to ask why prices are dropping, when historically such events would force prices up. In answer to this apparent conundrum, we have two broad schools of thought around supply and demand. The demand argument – much loved by the media - contends that the world economy is grinding to a halt, Chinese oil usage is slowing and therefore the brakes are being put on oil consumption. Add to this economic slow-downs in Brazil, India and the spectre of Eurozone failure rising from its (very shallow) grave and you have both a dramatic and gloomy picture – hence the column inches and TV spotlight for the media loves nothing more than a good scare story.

At Rix, we love cakes and we also love supporting our charity of the year. That's why we couldn't help but get involved in the world's biggest coffee (and cake) morning last Friday, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.