Fuel prices up 30p a litre in 12 months

The increase means it has become around £17 more expensive to fill up a typical 55-litre family car

Petrol prices have soared by more than 30p per litre in the past 12 months.

Government figures show the average price of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts was 143.70p on Monday.

That compares with 113.11p per litre on November 2 last year.

The increase means it has become around £17 more expensive to fill up a typical 55-litre family car.

The current average price is the most expensive recorded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which publishes weekly updates.

It beats the previous high of 142.17 set in April 2012.

Drivers were first alerted to petrol being at record levels last week, when separate figures from data firm Experian Catalist showed petrol was being sold at an average of 142.94p per litre.

The Government’s data shows the average price of a litre of diesel was 147.48p on Monday, up more than 29p compared with a year ago.

The increase in fuel prices has been driven by the cost of oil doubling in the past year.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The surging cost of oil is certainly contributing to the misery drivers face at the pumps, but the price of a barrel is still only around two thirds of what it was when forecourt prices were last at these levels.

“Another factor is the relatively high, and rising, cost of biofuels, which on a pence per litre basis are more expensive than fossil fuels and this at a time when the bio element of petrol is increasing as we work towards meeting our decarbonisation goals.”

The proportion of bioethanol – a type of renewable biofuel – in standard grade petrol at UK forecourts was increased from 5% to 10% in September.

Published: 02/11/2021 by Radio NewsHub