The cost of both petrol and diesel fell for the fourth consecutive month in February, yet drivers dependent on diesel continue to be overcharged at the pumps, data from RAC Fuel Watchreveals.*
February saw the average price of a litre of unleaded come down another penny (1.26p) to 147.72p, while diesel dropped 3.19p to 167.19p. The falls make the cost of filling a 55-litre family petrol car £81.25 (down £0.69 from £81.94 a month earlier), and the diesel equivalent £91.95 (down from £93.71 at the start of February).
While the reduction in diesel prices is good news, wholesale price data analysed by the RAC shows drivers of the UK’s 12m diesel cars continue to pay a needlessly high price every time they fill up. Despite there being just a 6p difference between the wholesale prices of both diesel and petrol throughout all of February, diesel pump prices are currently a colossal 20p more than petrol. This means anyone filling a diesel car is, the RAC calculates, paying around £7 more per tank than they should be if diesel was being sold at a fairer price of around 155p a litre.
What’s more, drivers face a ‘pump price shock’ in less than two weeks unless the Chancellor decides to keep the 5p duty cut put in place a year ago, and cancel the annual planned hike at the Spring Budget on 15 March. If the duty cut was to be removed as originally planned, the RAC says current petrol prices would rise to 153.72p and diesel to 173.19p when factoring in VAT.
To put today’s prices into context given the Chancellor’s imminent decision on what to do with fuel duty, average petrol prices are currently slightly lower than they were 12 months ago (147.72p this year compared to 151.16p), but diesel is significantly higher (167.19p compared to 154.75p) – despite wholesale diesel prices being extremely similar to where they were a year ago (122.76p at the end of February 2022, 119.09p at the end of last month).