What's happening to UK petrol and diesel prices?

An important development from the financial markets: What's happening to UK petrol and diesel prices? 47 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Faarea Masud Business reporter Getty Images Motorists in the UK have faced higher fuel costs since the US-Israel war with Iran began. Fuel prices surged when the conflict began on 28 February, with the production and transportation of energy across the Middle East slowing or stopping entirely due to missile strikes and drone attacks.

Motoring group RAC has said prices at the pump could keep rising if there is no resolution to the conflict. What we know about the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran How do wholesale oil prices affect the cost of petrol and diesel at the pump? Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, meaning higher wholesale costs make filling up a car more expensive.

Economic Details

Analysts say every $10 (£7. 53) increase in the oil price pushes up pump prices by roughly 7p a litre. Since the war began, the price of a barrel of Brent crude – the global benchmark for wholesale oil prices – has been very volatile, jumping from $73 to as high as $126 a barrel at one point , the highest since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The cost of filling a typical family car with petrol went up by around £14. A tank of diesel became £27 more expensive. The price of petrol peaked at 158.

3p a litre and diesel reached 191. 5p a litre, the RAC said. Figures from the motoring group show average petrol and diesel prices started to ease slightly on 16 April, falling after 46 days of increases – the longest run of consecutive rises on record.

Analyst Views

But petrol has started to rise again, and diesel may do the same if the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz continues. On 5 May, petrol was 157. 2p a litre, and diesel 188.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said the outlook for the coming weeks was "ominous". "Wholesale petrol and diesel prices jumped by around 5p a litre last week, and are now at their highest since the war began," he said. "If oil prices, and in turn wholesale fuel prices, remain at elevated levels over the coming weeks then future price rises at forecourts are all but inevitable.

" Prices remain below the levels reached in summer 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when petrol reached 191. 5p and diesel hit 199p a litre. Because transporting oil is a slow process, price movements in the wholesale markets take about a fortnight to show at the pump.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.