Drivers proceed to be overcharged on the pumps – Automotive Weblog

This Christmas is about to be the costliest ever on the roads with petrol and diesel each at report highs for the festive interval.

Petrol is presently being bought for a mean of 152.96p a litre which is 7p greater than it was on 22 December 2021 (145.66p), in response to the RAC.

Diesel, nevertheless, is a surprising 27p dearer on the nation’s forecourts than it was a 12 months in the past (148.95p) at 175.75p, which was beforehand the costliest Christmas ever for drivers.

A tank of petrol for a household driving to see household and pals now prices practically £4 extra at £84 than it did final Christmas (£80). For these travelling in diesel automobiles it’s even worse with a fill-up now costing practically £97 – virtually £15 greater than final 12 months (£82).

However disturbingly, this Christmas shouldn’t be hurting drivers’ pockets as a lot as it’s because the wholesale value of petrol has now fallen to simply 106p a litre – the identical value it was this time final 12 months.

And much more worryingly, this 12 months’s value contains the Authorities’s 5p gas obligation low cost which was launched in March to ease the ache of rising gas costs attributable to Russia invading Ukraine.

The wholesale value of diesel has dropped to 126p a litre which is barely 14p dearer than simply earlier than final Christmas (112p).

The RAC calculates that the typical value of petrol must be round 138p – 15p cheaper than it truly is, and that diesel must be round 160p a litre – 13p cheaper than it’s now.

“The large 4 supermarkets, which dominate UK gas retailing, have robustly refused to considerably decrease their forecourt costs to mirror what’s occurred with the substantial discount within the value of wholesale gas that they’re having fun with,” mentioned RAC gas spokesman Simon Williams.

“We now have a weird scenario the place many smaller impartial retailers are charging far much less for his or her gas than the supermarkets.”

“We urge the supermarkets to correctly lower their petrol and diesel costs to offer drivers the Christmas current they deserve.”