Petrol and diesel prices set to rise

Fleets should to expect the cost of petrol and diesel to rise through December, despite pump prices falling last month.

According to RAC Fuel Watch the cut in oil production, announced on the last day of November by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will cause the rise.

A mid-month cut in prices, by supermarkets, led to around 2p being taken off the price of both petrol and diesel nationally, and other retailers cut their prices too.

The price of filling up an average petrol car is currently at £62.68 (down from £64.27 at the start of November), while a similarly-sized diesel car costs £64 (down from £65.32 on November 1).

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Given retailers were relatively slow to pass on wholesale price savings to motorists last month, despite the RAC’s calls for a cut, we will be monitoring closely to see if forecourt prices now rocket as a result of the recent leap in the price of oil."

Regional fuel price variation

The South East remained the most expensive region for both petrol and diesel, with the average litre of unleaded costing 114.56p, and diesel 116.88p. Northern Ireland was selling the cheapest diesel at 115.3p per litre, but it was East Anglia that recorded the sharpest drop in diesel prices, down 2.7p to 116.61p per litre.

Regional average unleaded pump prices

Regional average diesel pump prices