Lowest price for petrol in 18 months | Diesel now below 155p per litre

Diesel has dipped below 155 pence per litre (ppl) by hitting 154.31p on Sunday (May 14), taking it to its lowest price since February 28, last year.

Meanwhile, the price of a litre of unleaded dropped to 144.95p on Sunday (May 14) – its lowest price since November 3, 2021.

Since peaking at 191.5p (July 3, 2022) last summer, petrol has come down by 47p a litre (46.55p) saving drivers £25.60 every time they fill up (£105.32 to £79.72).

Diesel, which reached an all-time high of 199.09p on June 25, 2022, has fallen 45p (44.78p) saving drivers £24.62 a tank.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Seeing the price of unleaded fall back under 145p a litre for the first time in 18 months is good news for the country’s 19 million petrol car drivers. This means it’s now nearly £26 cheaper to fill up a family-sized petrol car this summer compared to last year when a litre hit the record price of 191.5p.

“While it’s good news diesel has also dropped below 155p a litre for this first time since the end of February last year, drivers of the UK’s 12m diesel cars and countless businesses who rely it to fuel their vehicles, should be paying 20p a litre less as its wholesale price is now 4p lower than petrol’s.

“This is being demonstrated very powerfully by one independent retailer in Shropshire who is currently charging 131.9p – more than 22p below the UK average.

“We hope this finally embarrasses the country’s biggest retailers to cut their pump prices significantly.”

The latest decrease in fuel prices comes as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) reports that, while the evidence shows that the majority of fuel price increases are due to global factors, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, indications are that higher pump prices cannot be attributed solely to factors outside the control of the retailers.

Based on evidence gathered as part of its Road Fuel market study, it has concluded that the higher prices drivers are paying at the pumps appear, in part, to reflect some weakening of competition in the road fuel retail market.

Williams continued: “If diesel were being priced fairly by major retailers it would actually be well under its long-standing 2012 high of 147.93p.

“With the delivered wholesale prices of both petrol and diesel at 110p and 105p respectively, drivers should be paying no more than 142p and 137p, and that’s factoring in an above-average 10p-a-litre retailer margin.”