Petrol and diesel increase by 10p a litre

Petrol and diesel pump prices rose again in April, increasing by 2p and 3p per litre, respectively.

The uplift means that both fuels are now 10p a litre more expensive than they were at the start of the year.

Unleaded went up 3p last month to 149.95p while diesel rose by 2p to 157.76p, taking a 55-litre tank of petrol to £82.47 (up £1.70 in April) and diesel to £86.77 (up £1.10 in April).

The lowest prices for petrol and diesel so far this year were both recorded on January 16 – 139.7p and 147.6p respectively. 

The RAC wants the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is now responsible for monitoring prices alongside overseeing the imminent Government-mandated ‘Pump Watch’ scheme, to tackle what it describes as unfair retailer margins.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Our data shows petrol and diesel have now gone up 10p a litre so far this year on the back of further increases in April of 3p and 2p respectively.  

“Some of this is down to the oil price and the pound-to-dollar exchange rate making wholesale petrol more expensive for retailers to buy but unfortunately, it’s also very apparent that retailers are making massive margins on diesel.

“To put this into perspective, the wholesale price of diesel has been lower than petrol since the middle of April, yet diesel is nearly 8p a litre dearer at the pump. If retailers were treating drivers fairly this gap would be starting to close, instead of getting wider.” 

The RAC believes that if the biggest retailers were to charge fairer margins, it would lead to fuel prices across the UK mainland coming down to match those charged in Northern Ireland which are consistently 5p a litre (£2.50 a tank) lower. 

Furthermore, it says it would end the postcode lottery which sees individual retailers often charge wildly different prices at the forecourts they operate – these can vary by an average of 17p a litre from their cheapest to most expensive sites but can be as high as 36p. 

RAC Fuel Watch data for April reveals that retailer margins have increased dramatically, despite the CMA expressing its concern about this very issue at the end of March.

The average margin on unleaded currently stands at 9.5p a litre, whereas margin on diesel has increased to 18p, up 6p in April alone. The long-term average margin for both fuels is just 8p. 

The RAC’s analysis of supermarket prices at the end of April shows that the differences between the cheapest and most expensive fuel charged by individual brands ranges from 8p a litre to 36p. 

Fuel prices around the UK