Petrol and diesel prices rose in August for the third consecutive month, but do not appear to be heading back to pre-pandemic levels, says RAC Fuel Watch.

The organisation says a litre of unleaded petrol rose 0.5p to 114.88p and diesel by 0.3p to 118.47p, meaning both fuels are still 13p a litre cheaper than they were at the end of January.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Even though pump prices have risen for three consecutive months, August’s increase was slight sparing drivers any nasty shocks when they went to fill up.

“We had feared prices might rise more quickly as people started driving more after the lockdown but so far petrol has only gone up 9p a litre from its low of just under 106p in May which, it’s important to remember, is still 13p a litre less than it was in January.

“The short-term outlook for pump prices generally does not appear ominous for UK drivers despite a blip in the oil price at the end of August.

“The cost of a barrel of oil rose dramatically due to fears of a hurricane affecting supplies in the Gulf of Mexico, but fortunately there was no adverse impact to production as the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical depression and refineries were spared massive flooding.

“Our pump price forecast for the next fortnight shows petrol should come down by a penny while diesel ought to fall by around 5p a litre if retailers play fair and reflect the downward movement in the wholesale price properly.”

RAC Fuel Watch found the supermarkets increased their prices “very slightly” in August with petrol rising by a third of penny to 109.55p and diesel by over half a penny (0.63p) to 114.17p.

This makes a litre of unleaded at a supermarket more than 5p (5.33p) cheaper than the UK average, and diesel 4.3p cheaper per litre.

Asda started the month as the lowest cost supermarket petrol retailer but by the close Morrisons had edged marginally lower at 109.24p compared to Asda’s 109.43p.

On diesel, however, Asda was a penny a litre cheaper than its nearest rival, Morrisons, at 113.35p.

Yesterday, FairFuelUK, backed by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Logistics UK (FTA), has said it will 'fight tooth and nail' against rumoured plans to raise fuel duty.

 

Regional fuel price variation

Regional average unleaded pump prices

Unleaded	30/07/2020	27/08/2020	Change
UK average	114.27	114.71	0.44
London	115.38	116.04	0.66
East	114.60	115.22	0.62
Wales	113.19	113.73	0.54
Northern Ireland	111.20	111.71	0.51
South East	115.25	115.74	0.49
South West	114.10	114.57	0.47
North West	113.85	114.29	0.44
Scotland	114.13	114.53	0.40
East Midlands	114.11	114.48	0.37
North East	113.25	113.56	0.31
Yorkshire And The Humber	113.73	114.01	0.28
West Midlands	114.27	114.50	0.23

 

Regional average diesel pump prices

Diesel	30/07/2020	27/08/2020	Change
UK average	118.04	118.40	0.36
East	118.92	119.46	0.54
East Midlands	117.98	118.13	0.15
London	119.03	119.35	0.32
North East	116.85	117.07	0.22
North West	117.55	117.81	0.26
Northern Ireland	114.46	114.76	0.30
Scotland	117.81	118.18	0.37
South East	119.34	119.82	0.48
South West	117.97	118.37	0.40
Wales	117.05	117.72	0.67
West Midlands	118.15	118.47	0.32
Yorkshire And The Humber	117.32	117.62	0.30