Retailers fail to cut petrol prices despite drop in wholesale cost

Average petrol prices remained unchanged in October, despite a drop in wholesale costs.

RAC Fuel Watch data shows there was a 3.5p fall in the wholesale price, yet unleaded started and finished the month at 130.6p a litre.

The average cost of filling a 55-litre family car with petrol has stayed at £71.84 when it should have been nearly £2 less (£1.92).

“Every motorist driving a petrol car should feel aggrieved that the price of a litre stayed the same in October when it should have fallen by more than 3p. The biggest retailers who are responsible for selling the most fuel have taken drivers for a ride.

“In doing so they have inadvertently but categorically proved that ‘rocket and feather’ pricing does exist. Had wholesale costs increased at the same rate the supermarkets would have passed these on at the pump straightaway just as they did in April and May this year,” said Simon Williams, RAC fuel spokesperson.

The organisation is urging retailers to lower their petrol prices in November, stating that the increasing strength of the pound against the dollar will provide even greater scope for a cut.

Diesel suffered its fourth consecutive monthly price increase, rising by 2.38p from 134.50p to 136.88p, making the cost of a 55-litre tank £75.28. Buying it at a supermarket saves 3p a litre with the average price standing at 133.67p a litre at the end of October, having risen 2.35p from 131.32p.

Refilling with petrol at a motorway service area, however, now costs an average of 149.32p – a slight reduction of 0.3p a litre on the start of the month when it was 149.62p.

A litre of diesel at a motorway forecourt is an average of 155.22p – an increase of 2.7p in October.