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UK fuel prices fall - but not by enough, RAC says
Date: 06 September 2019 | Author: Sean Keywood
The average price of both petrol and diesel in the UK fell slightly during August, according to the RAC.
However, the motoring organisation says price cuts should have been greater, due to a larger fall in the wholesale price of the fuels.
The average cost of a litre of petrol fell during the month by 0.27p to 128.88p, while the fuel's wholesale price dropped by 4.38p to 96.57p.
The situation with diesel was similar but not as pronounced, with to cost of a litre at the pump decreasing by 0.38p to 131.66p, while the wholesale price fell by 1p a litre to 101.12p.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: "With nearly 4.5p coming off the wholesale price of petrol drivers should have seen, at the very least, 2p a litre being knocked off at the pumps by the end of the month.
"By our calculations retailers ought to be charging around 126p for a litre of unleaded based on a wholesale price of 98p a litre, which many retailers will have bought at a couple of weeks ago, and then factoring in delivery, a reasonable margin of 5p a litre and VAT.
"As for the supermarkets, they could easily be selling at around 122p."
Williams said that the drop in wholesale prices was due to a 5% drop in the price of oil during August, while the pound to dollar exchange rate - oil being traded in the latter currency - remained static.
