RAC urges UK fuel retailers to pass on wholesale savings to customers

The RAC has urged UK fuel retailers to pass on wholesale savings to customers after petrol diesel prices soared to a new record this week.

Drivers badly need a break in the relentless daily rises in fuel costs, the motoring group said.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Both petrol and diesel prices soared to yet new record heights on Tuesday. The average price of petrol went up by over a penny a litre to 164.98p and diesel by more than 2p to 176.04p which means petrol has now gone up 13p since the start of the month and diesel by a nearly 21p – both of which are the fastest rises on record.

“A full tank of unleaded for a family car is now almost £91 (£90.74) and diesel nearly £97 (£96.82). Drivers can save nearly 4p a litre by buying their fuel at one of the big four supermarkets where the average for petrol is 161.20p and 171.58p for diesel which would save them £2 a tank.

“We continue to remain hopeful that retailers will soon start to pass on recent reductions in the price of wholesale fuel to drivers when they next buy supply. That ought to lead to petrol stabilising at around 160p while diesel ought to stay where it is based on current wholesale prices.

“The big question is how keen will retailers be to pass on those savings at the pumps as they will no doubt be extremely conscious of protecting themselves from any more rises that could suddenly materialise. Drivers badly need a break from these relentless daily rises.

“With the Spring Statement just a week away drivers will be looking to the Chancellor to end their misery by cutting duty or VAT. One thing’s for sure simply reiterating that fuel duty has been frozen at 58p a litre simply isn’t going to cut it.”

The call came as the International Energy Agency cut its world oil demand forecast for 2022 , warning that sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine could spark a global supply “shock”.

“Faced with what could turn into the biggest supply crisis in decades, global energy markets are at a crossroads,” the IEA said in a monthly report.

“While it is still too early to know how events will unfold, the crisis may result in lasting changes to energy markets.”

Russia, the world’s biggest exporter of oil, has been hit with a slew of international sanctions over the war in Ukraine, which sent oil prices soaring.

While the measures exclude the energy market, the IEA said major oil companies, trading houses, shipping firms and banks have “backed away from doing business with the country”.

The US and Britain have announced their own bans on Russian oil imports.

“The implications of a potential loss of Russian oil exports to global markets cannot be understated,” the IEA said.

“The prospect of large-scale disruptions in Russian production due to wide-ranging sanctions as well as decisions by companies to shun exports after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is threatening to create a global oil supply shock,” it said.

The agency lowered its forecast for growth in oil demand by nearly one million barrels per day and now expects world oil demand to reach 99.7 million barrels per day this year.

The IEA also said that three million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil and products may not find their way to market beginning in April in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, as sanctions bite and buyers hold off.

“We see a reduction in total exports of 2.5 million bpd, of which crude accounts for 1.5 million bpd and products 1 million bpd,” the IEA said in its monthly oil report.