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Press release -

July was another bad month for drivers with petrol and diesel going up by 3p a litre

The average price of petrol and diesel rose for the second consecutive month, adding nearly £2 to a fill up, according to RAC Fuel Watch data for July.*

Unleaded rose 3.21p a litre from 111.06p to 114.27p, which sent the cost of a 55-litre tank to £62.85 – an increase of £1.77. Diesel went up by a similar amount – 2.95p a litre – from 115.09p to 118.04p, making a complete fill-up £1.62p more expensive at £64.92.

The price of oil was stable throughout July finishing at $42.95 a barrel very similar to the beginning of the month. The wholesale price of petrol fell 2p across the month to 84.66p a litre, signalling that retailers should be reducing their pump prices slightly in the next week or two. Diesel also came down but only very slightly (0.22p) to 87.39p.

At the big four supermarkets, the average price of a litre of petrol increased by nearly 3.5p (3.43p) to 109.14p and diesel by 3.33p to 113.52p – this means refuelling at supermarket is an average of 5p a litre cheaper for unleaded and 4.5p for diesel.

Asda offered the cheapest supermarket unleaded by the end of July at 108.63p (up 2p) with the others all averaging just over 109p a litre. It also had the lowest price diesel at 112.68p ahead of Sainsbury’s on 113.39p – Morrisons and Tesco were both at 114p.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “July was another bad month for drivers with a 3p a litre rise in the price of fuel. This means petrol’s 7p a litre more expensive than it was at the end of May (107p on 31 May) and diesel is 6p more (111.86p on 31 May), something drivers will no doubt have noticed as each complete fill-up is costing almost £2 more.

“The higher prices at the pump have been driven by the cost of oil increasing steadily to around $42 a barrel from a low of $13.21 in April. But drivers may well be given some respite as oil producers are planning on ramping up production despite the risk of renewed lockdowns around the world. This could easily lead to supply outstripping demand and therefore a reduction on the forecourts of the UK. As it there is some scope for retailers to already be reducing their prices. If they play fair with drivers we ought to see 2p a litre come off the price of unleaded and nearer 4p come off diesel.”

Regional fuel price variation

Regional average unleaded pump prices

Unleaded 01/07/2020 30/07/2020 Change
UK average 111.06 114.27 3.21
Wales 109.74 113.19 3.45
East 111.17 114.60 3.43
South West 110.68 114.10 3.42
Scotland 110.84 114.13 3.29
South East 112.04 115.25 3.21
London 112.21 115.38 3.17
North West 110.69 113.85 3.16
Yorkshire And The Humber 110.62 113.73 3.11
North East 110.17 113.25 3.08
West Midlands 111.21 114.27 3.06
East Midlands 111.06 114.11 3.05
Northern Ireland 108.18 111.20 3.02

Regional average diesel pump prices

Diesel 01/07/2020 30/07/2020 Change
UK average 115.09 118.04 2.95
East 115.65 118.92 3.27
Scotland 114.67 117.81 3.14
South East 116.21 119.34 3.13
North West 114.53 117.55 3.02
Wales 114.11 117.05 2.94
West Midlands 115.27 118.15 2.88
London 116.18 119.03 2.85
South West 115.13 117.97 2.84
North East 114.02 116.85 2.83
East Midlands 115.21 117.98 2.77
Yorkshire And The Humber 114.72 117.32 2.60
Northern Ireland 111.97 114.46 2.49

Green – cheapest/least; red – most expensive/most

Motorists can keep abreast of the latest fuel prices by visiting the RAC Fuel Watch webpage.

Ends

If you are a journalist and would like further information, please contact:

RAC press office: press.enquiries@rac.co.uk

Notes to Editors

* UK national and regional average pump prices quoted are based on Experian Catalist data from 1 to 30 July 2020. Wholesale prices, oil price and the value of sterling are based on data from 1 to 31 July 2020.

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