According to the RAC, petrol prices grew faster than any other month in October.
After having risen by almost 7.5p and 8.8p respectively, the average price of petrol and diesel reached new records before the end last month. They have continued to climb since.
Petrol is now 30p/a litre more expensive than it was last year, with a quarter the 12-month hike occurring in October.
Record fast rise in fuel prices: October saw the highest ever petrol and diesel prices eclipsed. Unleaded also rose more quickly than any other month.
Fuel pricing data dates back to 2000. The RAC claims that it has never seen a petrol price increase of more than 7.5p per litre in a single month.
The largest petrol price rise in a single monthly period was in May 2018, when a one-litre litre went up 6p, to 129.41p. The month began at 136.92p.
On Sunday 24 October, it exceeded the 142.48p-a-litre all-time peak set on 16 April 2012 by reaching 142.94p.
By the month close, it had reached 144.35p – adding around £4 to the cost of filling an average family car’s fuel tank (£79.39 to brim a 55-litre tank).
October prices rose 30p higher than what they were a year ago (114.46p), making it around £16.50 more expensive each time drivers visit the pumps.
According to the RAC, the 8.16p increase in diesel prices last month was second only to the 8.43p increase in May 2008.
Diesel also reached a record price of 147.93p on 12 April 2012. On Halloween, it hit a new high at 147.94p. This is up from 139.78p the previous day.
Fuel pricing data dates back to 2000. The RAC claims that it has never recorded a petrol increase of more then 7.5p a litre in a month.
By the month close, average unleaded prices reached 144.35p – adding around £4 to the cost of filling an average family car’s fuel tank. Pictured: Prices on a forecourt at the M&S BP petrol station in Chiswick, Greater London, on 25 October
The data from RAC also shows that fuel prices are ‘postcode lottery’. Prices for petrol in Northern Ireland are nearly 3p less than those in the South East of England. There, prices are much higher than anywhere else.
Even though Northern Ireland was the UK’s cheapest petrol or diesel, drivers still paid 8p more for unleaded.
A litre of diesel in Northern Ireland hit 144.36p – the same as the average price of petrol across the UK, while In the North East diesel rocketed by a ‘frightening’ 9p-a-litre to 147.22p.
Prices rose due to rising oil and supermarket prices.
The monthly record jump in petrol prices was primarily as a result of oil becoming more expensive, rising by nearly $5 a barrel from $78.62 to $83.47 – peaking on 25 October it peaked at $86.16.
The wholesale price for a litre unleaded increased by 5p and diesel rose by 4.5p. This contrasts with the 7.5p-8p rises on the forecourt.
‘The surging cost of oil is certainly contributing to the misery drivers face at the pumps, but the price of a barrel is still only around two thirds of what it was when forecourt prices were last at these levels,’ explained Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation.
The motoring body believes that petrol prices have risen due to rising costs of biofuels. Filling stations across the UK switched to E10 petrol in September with a 10% biofuel mix. This is an increase from the 5 percent E5 sold before.
RAC Fuel Watch data also indicates that October’s spike was also due to the large four supermarkets.
They raised the prices of unleaded petrol by more than 9p per litre and diesel by over 10p to averages 142.18p/145.28p.
Asda was the lowest priced petrol at 140.98p. This was only slightly lower than Sainsbury’s which was 141.68p. Sainsbury’s however offered diesel at 144.37p. This was slightly lower than Asda’s 144.57p.
On 31 October, the average price of motorway gasoline was 158.43p. The record price was set the day before at 158.56p. Diesel closed October at 163.08p, a new record price.
Motorway fuel continues its rise above the national average. Diesel prices rose to 163.08p a litre at the end of October. This is the picture of the fuel price at Crawley Services, south London, on the M23 on 26 October
Simon Williams, spokesperson for RAC Fuel, stated that October was a month motorists will not forget. He said October had set records for all the wrong reasons’ but that there was a ‘glimmer hope’ that prices would stabilise and that major retailers must pass on savings as quickly as possible to drivers.
‘With a fill-up costing £16.50 more than a year ago, the impact is definitely being felt in homes up and down the country. It will also have a negative economic impact,’ he stated.
“There is a glimmer in hope that the oil price may have peaked, but much will depend on how much supply is released when the next meeting of the oil producer group OPEC+ takes place on Thursday.
‘Despite this, the profit margins retailers are taking on each gallon of petrol is higher now than it was prior to the pandemic. This is artificially driving up forecourt prices, especially since VAT is added.
“We urge the largest retailers to be fair with drivers and to ease the burden at pumps by lowering their margins for petrol from 8p per litre to more normal levels.
Rishi Sunak, who announced last week in the Budget statement that fuel duty would remain frozen at 12 years consecutively, told MPs that he was not prepared to increase the pressure on families and small businesses amidst record fuel prices.
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