Petrol prices now at lowest for 18 months

David Ross, Editor
Wed, 17 May 2023

The average price of petrol in the UK has dropped below 145p per litre for the first time in 18 months, according to new data from the RAC.

The cost of a litre of unleaded petrol fell to 144.95p on May 14, marking its lowest price since November 3, 2021.

Diesel prices also saw a decline, dipping below 155p per litre and reaching 154.31p on the same day.

This is the lowest price for diesel since February 28, 2021. As a result, the cost of filling a 55-litre family car with petrol now stands at under £80 (£79.72), while a full tank of diesel is now below £85 (£84.87).

Compared to the peak prices reached last summer, petrol has decreased by 47p per litre, resulting making it £25.60 cheaper every time drivers fill up their tanks (from £105.32 to £79.72).

Similarly, diesel, which hit an all-time high of 199.09p on June 25, has fallen by 45p per litre, costing £24.62 less per tank.

Simon Williams, fuel spokesman for the RAC, expressed optimism about the decrease in petrol prices but said drivers of diesels should still be paying less.

"Drivers of the UK’s 12m diesel cars and countless businesses who rely it to fuel their vehicles, should be paying 20p a litre less as its wholesale price is now 4p lower than petrol’s."

"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," he said.

The current petrol price, which has fallen by 47p per litre since July 2021, is now only slightly higher than the longstanding record high of 142.48p set in April 2012, which was only surpassed in late October 2021.

Williams states that if diesel were being priced fairly by major retailers, it would be well below its own longstanding high of 147.93p per litre in 2012.

"With the delivered wholesale prices of both petrol and diesel at 110p and 105p respectively, drivers should be paying no more than 142p and 137p, and that’s factoring in an above-average 10p-a-litre retailer margin," added Williams.

Ask HJ

Why does my hybrid give better economy in the summer?

My Yaris Hybrid can touch 80mpg in summer but drops down to about 60mpg in winter. Any reason for that?

The performance and efficiency of cars are affected by the weather, and this effect can be greater for electric vehicles as vehicle batteries are particularly affected by ambient temperature. It is likely that in the colder winter months the hybrid battery cannot achieve the same levels of performance, which results in the petrol engine being used more of the time and higher fuel consumption. In addition, higher winds and wet winter weather will also hurt fuel consumption, so this would explain why your Yaris Hybrid works best in warmer weather.

Answered by David Ross

More Questions