Since the Ukraine war, the average UK petrol price has dropped below 150p.
According to the AA, a litre petrol costs 149.74p per litre on Monday. This is lower than when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It was averaging 149.67p per litre.
The European war erupted, sending commodity markets soaring and pushing up wholesale oil and gas prices.
Petrol hit a record high of 191.53p per litre on July 3rd, as rising fuel prices led to rampant inflation and an increase in living costs.
Luke Bosdet is the spokesperson for AA on pump prices. He stated: “A 41.8p/litre crash in average pump price petrol is a huge relief to drivers, cutting £22.99 off the cost of filling a typical car tank.”
The average diesel price is now 172.21p per litre, a drop from the record of 199.07p set at the beginning of July, according to the motoring group. Diesel was sold at more than £2 per litre by some retailers.
The relief for drivers may be temporary as road fuel will rise by 6p, including VAT, in March after a year-long reduction in fuel duty.
After accusations that consumers were not receiving a cut in fuel duty, the UK government asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to examine pump prices.
CMA raised concerns about the margins made oil refineries. Later, it stated that there was evidence of “rocket-and-feather” behavior in retail – where prices rise rapidly and fall slowly – and suggested that the CMA is investigating. The investigation is ongoing.
The RAC charged petrol station owners with failing to pass on declining wholesale costs to drivers last week.
Bosdet stated that fuel at 150p per litre was still much higher than the record of 142.48p set in April 2012.
He stated: “Indicative the chaos in UK pump pricing, and the rampant exploit of drivers by many fuel retails, the AA observed yesterday that supermarket and non-supermarket sellers charged less than 140p per litre in South Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Competition and Markets Authority will need to answer the question of how fuel stations with large populations and high volumes can charge fuel prices well above 10p for fuel.