Curb fuel prices, UK groups tell profitable oil cos

LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Oil companies should use some of their record profits to lower high retail fuel prices, Britain's largest trade union and its Automobile Association said on Thursday in response to Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) results.

The Anglo-Dutch company posted a record European company profit of $27.6 billion for 2007, after benchmark U.S. crude prices CLc1 averaged more than $90 a barrel in the fourth quarter and hit an all-time high above $100 in early January. [ID:nL31854321]

Tony Woodley, the joint general secretary of Unite the Union said Shell's record profit was "obscene" and consumers should question the "excessive, mega-profits".

Unite, with more than two million members in the public and private sectors, says it is the largest union in Britain.

"Shell shareholders are doing very nicely whilst the rest of us, the stakeholders, are paying the price and struggling," Woodley said in a statement.

Edmund King, the president of motoring organisation the Automobile Association, said in a statement: "It has to be accepted that high oil prices have been spurred on largely by market speculators, rather than petroleum companies."

"However, there are problems with fuel supply predicted for the future and the AA would like to see some of the petroleum companies' profits windfall spent on reducing that threat."

The average retail gasoline price in Britain has remained at its most expensive level of 1.043 pound ($2.07) per litre ($9.41 imperial gallon) this week.

This price means that filling a typical 50-litre car costs 9.13 pounds more than a year earlier, said the association, which lobbies on behalf of motorists and has a roadside assistance business.

The average diesel price in Britain was 1.093 a litre, just below the record high price for the fuel. (Reporting by Ikuko Kao, additional reporting by Tom Bergin, editing by Anthony Barker)