Petrol & Diesel Prices Reach New Record High.
Fuel prices have hit a new record high at the pump across the UK, tightening the squeeze on UK consumers, the motoring organisation the AA has said. “The cost of living crisis has been ratcheted up yet another notch,” said Luke Bosdet of the AA.
Over the weekend petrol reached 148.02p a litre, while diesel hit a new record high of 151.57p a litre last Thursday. Fuel previously hit a record in November, before wholesale and retail prices fell back.
The RAC’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams said the price of filling a 55-litre family car was now an “eye-watering” £81.41. With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 a barrel and retailers keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks,” he said.
Fuel prices at the pump are driven largely by the wholesale price of energy which has shot up due to tensions over whether Russia will invade Ukraine. On Monday, oil prices hit their highest level since 2014, reaching $95.56 a barrel. If the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, oil and gas supplies from Russia to Europe may be interrupted, pushing up wholesale prices further.
The supply of oil and gas has already struggled to keep up with growing demand as the global economy picked up in recent months as Covid restrictions eased.
The RAC’s Mr Williams said: “On a positive note, retailer margins – which were the reason drivers paid overly high prices in December and January – have now returned to more normal levels of around 7p a litre.” He said the big four supermarkets, which dominate fuel sales, should “play fair” with drivers by keeping their profit margins low.
Day-to-day prices for food, household bills and other items such as used cars, have risen sharply in recent months, in part due to rising energy prices.