Petrol prices down but diesel ‘unfairly’ high

The average price of petrol has fallen below 145p a litre for the first time in 18 months, according to the latest data from RAC Fuel Watch.

The price of a litre of unleaded dropped to 144.95p on Sunday 14 May – its lowest price since 3 November 2021.

Diesel also dipped below 155p a litre by hitting 154.31p on Sunday, taking it to its lowest since 28 February 2022.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Seeing the price of unleaded fall back under 145p a litre for the first time in 18 months is good news for the country’s 19m petrol car drivers. This means it’s now nearly £26 cheaper to fill up a family-sized petrol car this summer compared to last year when a litre hit the record price of 191.5p.

“While it’s good news diesel has also dropped below 155p a litre for this first time since the end of February last year, drivers of the UK’s 12 million diesel cars and countless businesses who rely it to fuel their vehicles should be paying 20p a litre less as its wholesale price is now 4p lower than petrol’s.

“As petrol is down 47p a litre since early July last year, it is now only a few pence a litre above the long-standing record high of 142.48p which was set in April 2012 and only surpassed in late October 2021. And if diesel were being priced fairly by major retailers it would actually be well under its long-standing 2012 high of 147.93p.