Post by Fuelcard Frank
It’s been another fierce week for fuel prices as both petrol and diesel reach record highs across UK forecourts, with the average cost of filling a family car now exceeding £100.
The latest figures from the RAC show that the average cost per litre of petrol rose from 177.88p on Sunday to 178.50p on Monday, a rise of 0.6p in 24 hours. Over the same period, the average diesel price rose from 185.01p to 185.20p.
RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: "Drivers need to brace themselves for average fuel prices rocketing to and probably past £2 a litre”, which would mean a fill-up would rise to an unbelievable £110 and maybe more?
On Wednesday, the highest prices were found to be 202.9p a litre at BP sites on the A1 near Sunderland, the M4 near Chippenham in Wiltshire and the M6 near Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria, many others have since passed the £2 barrier.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "While fuel prices have been setting new records on a daily basis, households up and down the country may never have expected to see the cost of filling an average-sized family car reach three figures.”
In the transport sector, Lesley O’Brien, Director of Freightlink Europe claims soaring fuel prices have put the haulage industry in crisis with the cost of running one lorry up £20,000 since last year. Mr O’Brien said "pretty much everything you buy comes on the back of a truck" so customers will pay more. This already adding to a glum outlook for both business and personal finances driving inflation back up for us all.
Meanwhile, the AA is calling for a further duty cut or a temporary reduction in VAT would go a long way towards helping drivers, especially those on lower incomes who have no choice other than to drive."
The AA called on the government to cut fuel duty by 10p per litre immediately and introduce a "fuel price stabiliser", which would reduce fuel duty when petrol prices go up and increase it when they drop.
The Government may have a different view though as the increased revenue will help to pay the Covid debts and fund future budget cuts if they deem them unavoidable!
Retailers have come under criticism recently for appearing not to have passed on the recent 5ppl duty reduction announced by the Chancellor. However, the fact is that most did, but the oil market moved up so quickly that it negated any benefit.
Looking forward:
Unfortunately, the key factors written about in previous blogs are not going away, meaning that the outlook for fuel prices is undoubtedly higher. Moreover, the strong dollar, in which oil is traded is also adding to the surge in prices and compounding these current issues even more.
For fuel card users, prices are likely to increase in the region to a similar range of the previous week.
Hedging: We also offer a ‘Hedging’ Fuelcard where you can freeze the diesel price for up to a year at a time for an agreed set weekly volume. Looking at those presently you could ‘freeze’ a diesel price for 12 months about 10ppl lower than freezing it for next month. That indicates that the traders expect the diesel prices to peak in the summer and then fall away towards the turn of the year. Want to know more? Call or email me.
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