RAC comments on fuel prices

RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: “It’s good news that the CMA is to investigate retail fuel pricing as this should help ensure that drivers pay a fairer price at the pumps in the future. 

“While this is clearly a positive step, it’s also important to realise that motorists tend to lose out most when there are significant drops in the wholesale price which retailers don’t pass on. This was the case in December when there was a big drop in the price of oil which should have translated to lower forecourt prices. Instead retailers stood strong, only lowering their prices by a couple of pence a litre when there should have been a 10p a litre drop in the average price of petrol.   

“In a rising market, such as we’re experiencing in now, it’s very different in that retailers are constantly having to put up their prices to reflect the fact their costs are increasing every time they buy new stock. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February the wholesale price of petrol has gone up by 28%. This is why the Government’s 5p March duty cut has had little effect, whether or not it’s been fully passed on by retailers, and why they need to go further now to help drivers.”