Average diesel price above £1.90 a litre for first time in 3 months

The average price of a litre of diesel at forecourts has risen back above 190p this week – the first time it has broken the £1.90-a-litre ceiling for almost three months.

On Thursday, the UK average price rose to 190.12p, having fallen as low as 180.18p-a-litre at the end of September.

The wholesale price of diesel in the last few weeks has been rising quicker than petrol, as demand has increased with some Europe countries are relying on the fuel for heat and power generation during Russia’s reduction of gas exports.

This has pushed the average price of diesel almost 24p-a-litre higher than unleaded, which translates to a £13 difference when filling the tank of a family car.

Look away now if you drive a diesel-powered vehicle! The UK average price of a litre of diesel has jumped above £1.90 this week for the first time since the start of August, new figures show

With diesel hitting £190.12p yesterday, the average UK price of unleaded has also moved back above £1.65, reaching £166.17p on Thursday, according to the AA.

For a car with a 55-litre fuel tank, the cost to brim a diesel model is now £104.46 while a petrol-powered equivalent is £91.39.

Petrol is still 25p-a-litre below the all-time record price seen in early July, whereas diesel is less than 9p off the record set on 1 July. 

This week is the first time diesel has jumped above £1.90-a-litre on average since 3 August, the motoring group confirmed. 

The 10p rise in the last month will hit business operators and the self-employed even harder.

For motorists filling the fuel tank of an average-size Transit van it now costs £8 more than it did on 28 September, rising to £152.10 this week as opposed to £144.14 at the end of last month.

To add to the misery of diesel car owners, the price gap with petrol has now grown to 23.95p.

The gulf in price between a litre of unleaded and diesel has been growing in recent months on the back of Russia reducing its gas supplies.

This has resulted in an increase in diesel being used for heating and power generation purposes, especially in continental Europe.

And as the need for diesel has increased in recent weeks, the end of the so-called driving season in the US has seen petrol demand decline, increasing the price difference between the two fuels.

An announcement from OPEC+ earlier this month that it is cutting oil production by two million barrels a day has only accelerated the price gap.

What is the record high price of both fuels? 

PETROL

Record: 191.53p-a-litre on 3 July 2022

Currently, petrol is 25.36p lower than the record (based on 27 October UK average price)

DIESEL

Record: 199.07p-a-litre on 1 July 2022

Currently, diesel is 8.95p lower than the all-time record (based on 27 October UK average price)

Source: AA 

The price gap to petrol has now extended to almost 24p-a-litre. It means filling an average diesel family car is now £13 more expensive than an equivalent running on unleaded

The price gap to petrol has now extended to almost 24p-a-litre. It means filling an average diesel family car is now £13 more expensive than an equivalent running on unleaded

Thee AA, which tracks the wholesale cost of both fuels, says the increase in prices at the pumps should ‘level off shortly’.

For the meantime, fuel experts say drivers should fill up at supermarkets, which are most likely to hold back some of the price rises initially.

However, they will eventually be forced to increase their prices too.

Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price expert, says the news comes at the worst time, with the clocks due to go back this weekend and the colder and darker evenings.

This ultimately means drivers will use their car’s lights, wipers and heaters more, which in turn will make their engine work harder and therefore consume more fuel.

“This is not only bad news but bad timing. The clocks going back this weekend will soon move the evening rush-hour into darkness. More use of lights, wipers and heaters in the winter months makes vehicle engines work harder and use more fuel 

Luke Bosdet, AA fuel price expert 

‘Getting one mile less from a gallon of fuel is equivalent to using up more than an extra litre per tank for a car that averages around 45 miles per gallon,’ Mr Bosdet said.

‘Meanwhile, many haulage and delivery firms add surcharges to invoices to insulate themselves from higher diesel prices. 

‘That then passes on those higher costs to customers and therefore consumers quickly, fuelling inflation further.’

He also points out that UK fuel consumption continues to track at almost pre-pandemic levels, with more people returning to offices rather than working from home.

Figures released by HMRC this morning show that the UK’s petrol consumption continues at only around 3 per cent below pre-covid levels, despite a persistent 5 per cent to 10 per cent reduction in car travel since the end of the lockdown.

The AA believes that the reduction in car travel is due to more drivers either cutting out short journeys or combining trips to try to counter the impact of record pump prices in July.

Essential journeys, such as driving to work, the school run, shopping trips and visiting relatives, make it difficult for car owners to cut back on most fuel consumption.

However, statistics released by the Department for Transport show some reduction in car travel in the past fortnight – coinciding with rising pump prices and bad weather.

The AA’s report comes in the same week Shell announced profits of nearly £8.2billion ($9.5bn) between July and September – more than double what it made during the same period the year before.

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