UK petrol and diesel smash record price levels

Average UK petrol prices have surpassed 148p for the first time, according to new figures.

The AA has said that petrol jumped to 148.02p per litre on Sunday, rising above the previous record high of 147.72p from November 21 last year.

Meanwhile, the cost of diesel has also increased to a new record high of 151.57p per litre.

Many companies have already warned they will increase prices due to rising costs from raw materials, wages and energy bills.

AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet has previously said: “Businesses warned that they have no option but to pass on higher costs to consumers.

“The latest jump in the price of diesel, the workhorse fuel of business and haulage, ramps up that inflationary pressure even more.”

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Petrol has unfortunately hit a frightening new high of 148.02p which takes filling a 55-litre family car to an eye-watering £81.41. With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 a barrel and retailers keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks.

“The oil price is rising due to tensions between Russia – the world’s third biggest oil producer – and Ukraine, along with oil production remaining out of kilter with demand as the world emerges from the pandemic. As a result drivers in the UK could be in for an even worse ride as pump prices look certain to go up even more.

“On a positive note, retailer margins – which were the reason drivers paid overly high prices in December and January – have now returned to more normal levels of around 7p a litre. We urge the big four supermarkets, which dominate fuel sales, to play fair with drivers and not to make a bad situation on the forecourt any worse by upping their margins again.”

Lord Frost is among a group of senior Tory MPs and peers urging Boris Johnson to reverse the Government’s ban on fracking as the UK faces an energy crisis, with belief that becoming less reliant on Russia for energy supplies could lower costs for UK consumers.