Fuel prices in the UK have continued to hit record highs, official statistics show.
The average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts was 167.7 pence ($2.1) on May 23, up from 165.1 pence a week earlier, according to new figures released by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.
The average price of diesel on May 23 was 181.14 pence ($2.27) per litre, up from 179.7 pence last week.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said the news means “more financial frustration for drivers and businesses, not least the owners of the country’s 18 million petrol-powered cars, most of whom will be private individuals and families.”
He said “the signs are that the pain isn’t over yet,” as wholesale petrol prices are still close to recent highs and currently exceed those of diesel.
“As many people are looking anxiously at the prospect of ever higher bills to heat and light their homes, so too an increasing number of families are facing transport poverty. For most drivers, in the short term, there is little option but to grit their teeth and pay up,” he added.
The news comes as it emerged that the UK’s energy price cap is expected to increase to £2,800 ($3,510) in October, a rise of £830 ($1,040) from the current level.
Talking to the Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee of the House of Commons, Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem, said he is expecting an energy price cap in October “in the region of £2,800” as the market copes with “once-in-a-generation” price changes “not seen since the oil crisis of the 1970s.”
He said energy prices could go up even further if Russia disrupts gas supplies more.
Downing Street acknowledged that energy prices were a “significant challenge.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said some of the help from the government was “phased throughout the year.”
“Some of the support is designed to come in in October, £200 will be discounted from energy bills, the warm home discount will increase to £150 and be expanded to cover 3 million people, cold weather payments and winter fuel payments will be available again,” the spokesman said.
The government was also “actively looking at what more could be done” to help, said the spokesman, adding that Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are both focused on the issue.
He also said the indication from Ofgem about future increases of the energy price cap will help the government plan for “any future response.”
