THE average petrol price in the UK has dipped below the 145p mark this month, the first time it has been this low since January 2022.
Currently, a litre of petrol has an average price of 143.35p per litre, with supermarkets still offering slightly more favourable deals depending on location. The average amount as calculated by Fuel Watch from the big-four petrol-selling supermarkets is 140.74p although motorway service stations are still selling for a much higher price of 165.3p.
The RAC reports that the drop in petrol prices could save the average family car owner around £26 on a tank of petrol, with diesel owners also seeing a reduction in the cost of filling up. The RAC though still thinks the price we are paying is too high, and is calling on retailers both independent and larger chains to get fairer with their pricing. Wholesale prices for both petrol and diesel have dropped significantly in the last weeks and months, with delivered prices for a litre of fuel sitting around the 110p mark for petrol.
Commenting on the situation, RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “As petrol is down 47p a litre since early July last year, it is now only a few pence a litre above the long-standing record high of 142.48p which was set in April 2012 and only surpassed in late October 2021. And if diesel were being priced fairly by major retailers it would actually be well under its long-standing 2012 high of 147.93p.” Some retailers are being fairer with customers than others though, with one independent forecourt coming in for praise from the RAC. “While it’s good news diesel has also dropped below 155p a litre for the first time since the end of February last year, drivers of the UK’s 12m diesel cars and countless businesses who rely on it to fuel their vehicles, should be paying 20p a litre less as its wholesale price is now 4p lower than petrol. 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.”
