Petrol prices rise to record levels as RAC calls on government to provide more support for drivers
Petrol prices climbed to record levels for the third consecutive day yesterday, with soaring oil prices putting more pressure on consumers.
Unleaded petrol breached the £1.70 milestone, rising to 170.35p per litre, while diesel remained near-record levels at 181.35p – just below the 181.48p peak reached last Sunday.
The latest hike means the price of filling up a 55-litre family car has soared to an eye-watering £93.69.
This time last year, petrol was 128.96p a litre with diesel at 131.33p, while filling up an equivalent car tank was £70.93.
RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said the situation was “relentlessly contributing to the cost-of-living crisis.”
He called on the government to provide more support for driven, raising the prospect of VAT cuts.
Williams said: “We badly need the government to take more action to easy the burden on drivers which we hope will feature in its announcement expected this week. VAT at 20 per cent on fuel is currently benefitting the treasury to the tune of around 30p a litre which seems very unfair when you consider it’s a tax on a tax as fuel duty – despite being cut to 53p a litre at the end of March – is charged at the wholesale level.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut fuel duty by five pence in March in the Spring Statement, however continued uncertainty and fears of supply disruption amid continued conflict in Ukraine has kept oil prices elevated above $100 per barrel.
Brent Crude is currently trading at $113.60 per barrel and WTI Crude is priced at $109.90 per barrel.
This has kept forecourt prices high, while RAC has also criticised retailers for taking an average profit of 2p per litre more than before Sunak’s fuel duty cut was introduced.
Rising forecourt prices have become a pressing issue in Whitehall, with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng writing to businesses earlier this month to implore them to pass on the savings from March’s fuel duty cut.
In a letter to fuel industry bodies, Kwarteng said the public were “rightly frustrated” that the fuel duty cut did not appear to have been passed through to consumers “in any visible or meaningful way,” he wrote.
Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price spokesman also noted that there was significant contrasts in prices at the pumps, which was alienating consumers.
He said: “There is still quite some variation in pump price among fuel stations in most areas and between many towns. It is particularly galling when supermarkets of the same brand are charging significantly more at one superstore compared to another not that far away.”