Relief for drivers as UK petrol prices fall by 6p per litre in December
The average price of petrol in the UK fell by 6p per litre in December, the second consecutive monthly price drop. It will come as a relief for consumers following a year of trouble at the pumps.
The fall means a full 55-litre tank now costs £77.32, down £3.40 over the month, according to the latest data from the motoring group the RAC. Diesel also fell by 5p, down nearly £3 to £82.05.
The price of unleaded is now back to levels seen in early February 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a global crisis. The conflict brought the price of a barrel of oil to around $130, but this has now fallen to under $80.
Consumers have also faced an added hit from pumped up supermarket profit margins. An investigation from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year sparked outcry after it found drivers paid almost £1bn more for fuel, as margins rose by 6p per litre between 2019 and 2022.
The RAC warned that petrol and diesel is still 5p cheaper in Northern Ireland than the UK average and is also cheaper than the averages charged by the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets. The CMA said last year that Northern Ireland prices were lower due to greater competition from forecourts in the Republic of Ireland.
The RAC’s fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s clearly good news that both petrol and diesel came down substantially in December. While we’re starting the year paying much less at the pumps than we have done, it’s still galling to know that drivers aren’t being charged a fair price in comparison to Northern Ireland where the very same petrol and diesel is at least 5p a litre cheaper.”
“It’s surely impossible to argue that competition is working properly if prices are so vastly different in two parts of the UK. We continue to call on the biggest retailers to play fair with drivers and lower their prices to match what’s being charged in Northern Ireland.”
“We also urge Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho, who is on a mission to bring greater transparency to fuel pricing following the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation concluding drivers were overcharged to the tune of £900m in 2022, to ask the supermarkets why they won’t charge similar prices to the averages seen across Northern Ireland.”