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Motorists saw fuel prices rise again last month, despite the Chancellor’s announcement in March that fuel duty would remain frozen for a fourteenth year and that the 5 cents per liter cut had been extended for a further 12 months.
Official data shows that the average price of a liter of unleaded rose by 1.86 cents to 146.48.
This means that petrol is already about 6 cents per liter more expensive than at the end of December.
And the national overview of petrol stations shows that Asda – which has offered the lowest prices for years – is no longer the cheapest place to fill up…
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Gasoline price increase in 2024: The average price of a liter of unleaded is now 146.48 cents. This is 5.9p more expensive than 31 December 2023 (140.58p), with prices rising in each of the first three months of this year
The March RAC Fuel Watch report shows diesel also rose by over a penny last month from 154.68p to 155.99p (1.31p).
This confirms three consecutive months of increases for both types of fuel, dealing an additional blow to drivers’ finances as cost of living pressures drag on into 2024.
Petrol is now 5.9p more expensive than on December 31, 2023 (140.58p) and diesel is 6.81p more expensive (149.18p).
When the 55 liter tank of an average family car is full, each visit to a petrol station will cost the driver an extra £3.25 in 2024 and £3.76 more than last year for the fuels in question.
What is driving UK fuel prices up?
While the increase in gas station prices was driven by a 5 percent increase in the cost of a barrel of oil (from $83.55 to $87.48) in March, a surge in gasoline demand in the U.S. before the the summer before that the wholesale price of unleaded gasoline rose. rise to match that of diesel.
This increase in wholesale prices has put pressure on retailers’ average profit margin on each gallon of gasoline. This has fallen from 10.5 cents at the beginning of March to 8 cents at the end of the month.
However, the RAC said it believes this could also be due to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raising concerns about higher margins from retailers last week.
Figures from the CMA show that even lower margins for petrol at the end of March are more than double what retailers were pocketing in 2017.
The average margin on diesel is 11 cents, up a cent in March.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘Rising oil costs, combined with the fact that the pound is still worth a paltry $1.3, has led to another month of misery at the pumps, with the price of petrol rising by 2 pence per liter increases.’
Typically, Asda petrol stations have been the cheapest place to fill up on petrol and diesel in Britain in recent years. But this is no longer the case…
Asda is no longer the cheapest place to fill up. Where is?
Grocery stores typically offer the least expensive fuel prices in the entire country.
And for years it has been Asda forecourts that have led the way, either by being the first to cut their prices or by saving an extra penny on the competition.
But this is no longer the case.
Instead, it was rival Tesco which had the cheapest unleaded at an average of 142.7p at its 511 forecourts as of March 31.
Contrary to usual practice, Asda’s petrol was the most expensive of the ‘gig four’ at 145 pence.
Asda also had a huge price difference of 34 cents between the cheapest and most expensive liter of petrol sold in the UK.
The grocer charged 138.7 pence at Guildford forecourt and 172.9 pence at Junction 29A of the M1 near Sheffield – a Shell-branded branch operated by Asda. By comparison, Tesco had the smallest difference between the lowest and highest prices, at just 6p (138.9p vs. 144.9p).
Tesco now offers the cheapest petrol. The average cost of a gallon of unleaded is 142.7 cents at the grocer’s 511 gas stations
Asda has grown from the cheapest supermarket chain to the most expensive, RAC Fuel Watch notes
READ MORE: How to Lower Your Fuel Bill: Ten Tips for Hypermiling
With petrol and diesel prices already rising by around 6 cents per liter this year, filling up at petrol stations will continue to put pressure on motorists’ finances in 2024.
Therefore, learning ‘hypermile’ will benefit all drivers. This is the name given to a series of energy-efficient measures that motorists can put into practice to save petrol, diesel or electricity (if you own an electric car).
By using very simple hypermiling techniques – as listed below – ‘the equivalent of 9 cents per liter can easily be saved’, says the AA.
> Read our 10 hypermiling tips
At the end of March, Sainsbury’s sold the cheapest unleaded products for 136.9p in two locations: one in Wolverhampton and one in Dungannon in Northern Ireland.
However, Tesco charged the lowest price – 138.9p – at 30 separate petrol stations.
Asda, on the other hand, only charged the lowest petrol price of 138.7 pence at any of its 658 petrol stations.
Sainsbury’s and Tesco were tied for the lowest average diesel price in their portfolios at 151.7p and 151.8p.
Asda’s difference between the cheapest and most expensive diesel was 35.2 pence (147.7 pence in Guildford, Torquay and two in Northern Ireland versus 182.9 pence at the Shell-branded site, near Junction 29 of the M1).
Tesco had the smallest difference of just 6 pence between diesel on its forecourts (148.9 pv (154.9 pence), while Morrisons was also less than 10 pence (145.7 pv 154.9 pence). Sainsbury’s had the cheapest diesel at 142.9 pence, but this was only available in Andersontown, near Belfast, in Northern Ireland.
However, Tesco’s lowest price of 148.9p was offered at 45 of its petrol stations.
Sainsbury’s is the cheapest place to fill up if you have a diesel car. Again, motorists are best off avoiding Asda, the most expensive of the big four supermarket fuel stores
Looking at non-supermarket fuel sellers, BP and Shell-operated petrol stations showed very large differences between their cheapest and highest fuel prices.
For unleaded, BP has a gap of 27p (142.9pv 169.9p) and Shell 26p (143.9pv 169.9p) across their 287 and 536 petrol stations.
For diesel this is 30p for BP (149.9pv 179.9p) and 26p for Shell (153.9pv 179.9p).
Williams added: “Unfortunately, Asda no longer appears to be the force it once was in the fuel retailing industry.
“Gone are the days of the company announcing major front-page price cuts when wholesale prices fell, along with the promise at the time that drivers would not pay more than a certain low price at any gas station.”
The RAC’s fuel expert says consumers now have an ‘urgent need’ for an end to postcode lottery rates for petrol and diesel and the government is pushing ahead with its ‘Pumpwatch’ ambitions to make it mandatory for retailers to publish their prices within 30 years. minutes in which you made changes.
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