AA bosses fear tensions in the Gulf will trigger a surge in petrol prices for British motorists 

AA bosses fear tensions in the Gulf will trigger a surge in petrol prices for British motorists

  • The AA has warned that petrol prices could shoot up with the crisis in the Gulf
  • Iran seized a UK-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night 
  • The AA said drivers were being hit by a weak sterling pushing up petrol prices
  • A litre of unleaded is now £1.28 – the highest average price since July 2014 

Tensions in the Gulf could trigger more price rises at the petrol pumps, the AA warned yesterday.

Nearly a fifth of the world’s oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz – where a UK-registered tanker was seized by Iran on Friday.

Shipping experts warn that prices will shoot up if the crisis continues, as oil may have to be sourced from elsewhere.

The AA said it was ‘bad news all round’ for drivers, already facing the highest July fuel prices since 2014 – an average 128.35p a litre for unleaded as a weak pound pushes up the cost of oil imports

Experts fear uncertainty in the Gulf following the seizure of the Stena Impero, pictured, could see the cost of petrol go up even further

Experts fear uncertainty in the Gulf following the seizure of the Stena Impero, pictured, could see the cost of petrol go up even further

The AA said it was ‘bad news all round’ for drivers, already facing the highest July fuel prices since 2014 – an average 128.35p a litre for unleaded as a weak pound pushes up the cost of oil imports.

Meanwhile, Iran warned Boris Johnson not to back Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s call for a coalition of European naval forces to protect shipping in the Gulf.

Iranian vice president Eshaq Jahangiri said yesterday: ‘These kinds of coalitions and the presence of foreigners in the region by itself creates insecurity.’

The country’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Britain’s next prime minister that Britain’s seizure of Iranian oil from a tanker off Gibraltar this month was ‘piracy, pure and simple’ – but added that Iran was not seeking a ‘confrontation’ with the UK.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk