Pain at the pumps continues for petrol drivers
Drivers of petrol cars endured more pain at the pumps during May but diesel drivers enjoyed some relief with a modest reduction in prices.
According to RAC Fuel Watch, the average price of a litre of petrol went up nearly 2.5p across the month but diesel prices fell by 4.5p.
It found that petrol increased 2.4p from 157p to 159.4p while diesel fell from 188.4p to 183.9p.
This comes after the latest CMA Road Fuel Monitoring report found that a lack of competition in the sector is contributing to higher prices, with retail margins increasing in both March and April.
Rise at the pumps
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “May was a better month for drivers of diesel vehicles than it was for petrol. Those relying on unleaded had to endure yet another rise at the pumps, while those who use diesel saw a welcome 4.5p reduction.
“It’s really quite unusual to see the price of one fuel go up and the other come down. This was brought about by the wholesale cost of unleaded rising due to higher demand in the United States. This coincided with a drop in demand for heating oil in western Europe which is refined from the same part of the barrel as diesel.
“The last week of the month also saw the price of Brent crude drop below $100 which ought to prove to be good news for drivers as it should lead to far lower prices. The wholesale price of diesel has been far lower than its peak for some time which we had hoped would yield far bigger forecourt reductions.
“Petrol, however, could have risen further than it did, so it might have been the case that retailers decided to keep the price of unleaded down at the expense of greater diesel reductions.”
