The price of fuel in the UK has risen by 2p a litre, well above the increase seen on the wholesale market, according to a report from the RAC.
The average price of petrol went up from 114.39p to 116.46p (2.07p) and diesel from 117.72p to 120p (2.28p) over the course of the month. As far as prices on the wholesale market go, a litre of unleaded went up by just 1.28p from 85.76p to 87.04p and diesel rose by 1.11p from 88.33p to 89.44p.
According to wholesale prices from around two weeks ago – the standard time it takes for retailers to replenish their fuel stock – the RAC report states that they think drivers should in fact be paying around 113p for petrol and 118p for diesel instead.
Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco – three of the biggest supermarket retailers – all hiked their fuel prices by an average of 3p a litre, with only Asda matching the wholesale market price increase by raising its prices by around 1.5p a litre, the report shows.
This meant that Asda was selling both the cheapest supermarket petrol and diesel at the close of December. A litre of unleaded cost 110.11p a litre (up 1.31p from 108.8p) and diesel 113.4p (up 1.52p from 111.88p). Sainsburys was 1.5p more expensive for petrol and 1.38p for diesel.
The average cost of filling a 55-litre tank of fuel for a family petrol car rose by £1.14 from £62.91 to £64.05, and by £1.25 from £64.75 to £66 for diesel.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s very disappointing to see some of our biggest fuel retailers putting up their prices over and above the increases seen on the wholesale market. There’s a definite feeling that they have been trying to protect themselves for what was to come in terms of further coronavirus restrictions.
Williams added: “While wholesale prices went up very slightly in December our data shows there should be scope to lower forecourt prices rather than put them up. Retailers will no doubt argue that the pandemic is leading to drivers filling up far less so their ‘per litre’ profits are considerably down, and Monday’s announcement of another lockdown will be treated as justification for their decision not to pass savings on at the pumps.”
Keyword: Supermarkets hike prices as fuel costs rise by 2p a litre