The average price of diesel at fuel pumps is currently at 155p, which makes it 5p more expensive than the next expensive countries, Ireland and Belgium, who are charging 150p per litre, despite having 1-2 percent higher tax rates on fuel.
“We can see no good reason why retailers in Great Britain aren’t cutting their prices at the pumps,” said RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams on Wednesday.
Mr. Williams explained that the calculations show “the average retailer margin on diesel—that’s the difference between the delivered wholesale price and the retail price before VAT—is 18p. That’s a shocking 10p more than the long-term average of 8p.”
The latest European data in fuel prices reveals that France has a duty rate of a single penny lower than the UK (52p) but its average price for diesel is 9p less at 146p.
The RAC says they brought the issue of high diesel prices to the attention of Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho in a letter just over a week ago. However, it seems little to nothing has been done as the price of diesel in forecourts have barely moved “even though the wholesale prices of petrol and diesel are identical at just 111p a litre.”
“Having the most expensive diesel in Europe despite the current 5p duty cut is a very dubious honour,” said the automotive spokesman.
The RAC says the average price for a litre of diesel “should really be down to around the 145p level if retailers were charging fairer prices.” Claiming that the margin on petrol is also “unreasonably high at 13p.”
“It’s important to note that in Northern Ireland, where there is greater competition for fuels in the absence of supermarket dominance, the average price of diesel is just 144.9p—10p less than the UK average, and petrol is 6p cheaper at 142.4p,” said Mr. Williams.
“There is cause for hope for fairer fuel prices in the future,” he added.
“The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act became law on Friday, giving new powers to the Competition and Markets Authority to closely monitor road fuel prices and report any sign of malpractice to the government.”
Despite duty on both petrol and diesel being cut by 5p in spring 2022 to combat rapidly rising fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK still has the highest rate of duty on diesel in Europe alongside Italy. However, the price of diesel in Italy is averaging 148p a litre—7p cheaper a litre than in the UK.
Prices at the time soared on the back of rises in wholesale fuel costs, which jumped amid a resurgence in demand following the reopening of global economies.
The Epoch Times contacted the office of Claire Coutinho, secretary of state for energy security and net zero for comment.
