Yahoo Finance Petrol and diesel prices hit fresh highs despite oil falling below $100 per barrel
UK consumers continue to face rising costs of petrol and diesel as prices hit another record high on Tuesday, despite falling oil prices.
According to the RAC, the average price for petrol was 164.98p per litre, while diesel reached 176.04p.
Figures from data firm Experian Catalist showed the average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts has increased by 16p in the past month, which has made the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car nearly £9 more expensive. The cost of diesel has also gone up by 24p in the past month alone.
A full tank of unleaded for a family car is now almost £91, and diesel nearly £97.
Simon Williams, fuel spokesman for the RAC, said drivers “badly need a break from these relentless daily rises”.
Read more: Top tips: how to save money on fuel costs
“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,” he said.
“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.”
He added: “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.
“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.”
Watch: Why are gas prices rising?
Oil prices have surged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month, but have declined in the last few days amid peace talks and rising cases of COVID in China.
Brent crude (BZ=F) is currently trading at $99.41, falling back under the key $100 mark after soaring as high as $139 per barrel last week, a 14-year high. US light crude (CL=F) was $96.16 at the time of writing.
It comes as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday that global oil demand growth this year will be 35% lower than previously forecast due to the geopolitical conflict.
The Paris-based agency cut the forecast for world oil demand for the second to fourth quarters of this year by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd).
It noted surging commodity prices and sanctions on Russia "are expected to appreciably depress global economic growth" and impact inflation.
Global oil demand growth in 2022 will be 35% below previous forecasts, slashed by 950,000 bpd to 2.1 million bpd to average 99.7 million bpd for the full year. This is the third year of demand below pre-COVID levels.
IEA expects Russian output to slump by a quarter in April, adding that three million bpd of Russian crude and products may go offline at the start of next month.
Watch: How to prevent getting into debt
