Petrol had become “overpriced” across Britain’s forecourts at the end of September as retailers clung on to higher margins following growth in wholesale fuel costs, RAC reported.
According to an analysis by the auto servicing company, the average petrol price of 157.01p per litre at the end of September was 7p more than needed based on wholesale prices.
“If retailers as a whole were playing fair with drivers, petrol would be [...] cheaper than it is now,” RAC spokesperson Simon Williams said.
The price of petrol rose by 4.52p on average throughout September, following growth in August, as scaled-back production by OPEC+ nations weighed on the wholesale market.
Diesel jumped by 8.11p to 163.11p per litre meanwhile, following a similar hike in August, with further increases likely this month, according to RAC.
“It’s worrying that retailer margin across the UK is higher for petrol than it should be considering the big four supermarkets were told off by the Competition and Markets Authority for overcharging drivers by £900m in 2022,” Williams continued.
Though prices of wholesale petrol and diesel have grown apart in recent weeks, RAC said retailers were failing to pass on lower petrol costs.
“While many have voluntarily started to publish their prices ahead of being mandated to in law, we still have a situation where wholesale price changes aren’t being fairly reflected on the forecourt,” Williams added.