Fuel prices settle in April

Fuel prices eased slightly in April, after three months of continuous rises.

According to RAC Fuel Watch data, the average price of petrol dropped by 0.5p to 162.75p a litre over the course of the month while diesel stayed the same at 177p.

Petrol is now 4.5p a litre lower than the record high of 167.3p set on 22 March while diesel is 2.5p below 179.9p recorded on 23 March. This means the cost of filling a 55-litre family car from empty is 50p less than it was at the start of the month at £89.51 while diesel still costs £97 for a full tank.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “After three months of nightmarish price rises, April finally saw an end to seemingly endless forecourt hikes. Although the price of oil has cooled considerably, there’s still plenty of uncertainty in the market which is leading to prices jumping around a lot. This coupled with the exchange rate worsening isn’t good for drivers and news that the EU is planning to phase out Russian oil is likely to cause the barrel price to rise.

“However, retailers really should have passed on the savings they were benefitting from when wholesale prices were lower earlier in April; sadly for drivers this didn’t happen. Instead, the biggest retailers, which buy most frequently held out, protecting themselves from future rises. They will no doubt feel they were justified in not lowering their forecourt prices as wholesale costs are now rising again, in part due to the pound losing ground on the dollar, making it more expensive for retailers when they buy new stock.

“It’s also very much the case that retailers’ margins were far higher in April than they were in March. RAC Fuel Watch data estimates they took around 4p more a litre than they did over the course of the previous month. This will surely be a disappointment to the Chancellor who cut fuel duty by 5p a litre in the Spring Statement.”