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Diesel prices still too high, RAC says
Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2023 | Author: Sean Keywood
The average price of diesel at UK filling stations fell by nearly 4p per litre in April – but still remains at least 16p more expensive than it should be, according to the RAC.
The motoring organisation said diesel was being sold for around 13p per litre more than petrol, despite diesel now being 6p per litre cheaper than petrol on the wholesale market. The respective pump-price averages in April were 159.43p and 146.5p.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “Diesel drivers across the UK mainland continue to lose out badly at the pumps. They’re paying 13p a litre more for the fuel than petrol, despite diesel being cheaper for retailers to buy on the wholesale market for all of April.
“We feel there should be an obligation on retailers to reflect wholesale price movements on their forecourts. Sadly, the only place this seems to happen is in Northern Ireland where a litre of diesel is, incredibly, being sold for 12p less than the UK-wide average.
“Our data shows that the average retailer margin on a litre of diesel is a shocking 22p a litre compared to petrol which is around 8p. The long-term average for both fuels is 7p, which means retailers are making three times what they have in the past for diesel. This is hard for them to justify and equally hard for diesel drivers to swallow.”
Williams said government action on the issue was now badly needed.
He said: “While we’re not in favour of prices being capped – as we feel this could lead to smaller retailers in rural areas not being able to compete and going out of business to the detriment of the communities they serve – we feel there should be an obligation on the biggest retailers to charge fairer prices in relation to wholesale market movements.
“We realise retailers need to make a profit but a margin of 22p on every litre of diesel can only be seen as outrageous and a slap in the face to those who depend on it, whether they’re consumers or businesses.”
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