RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “While all four
supermarket bosses questioned by the Commons’ Business and Trade
Committee said they would support a Northern Ireland-style online
fuel price checker, we know this isn’t the answer to giving all
drivers fairer prices at the pumps, particularly as prices are
only updated on it once a week and drivers can’t see which
forecourts are cheapest. Ultimately, it comes down to how much
margin retailers want to make per litre and, as the Competition
and Markets Authority has already stated, supermarket fuel
margins have increased significantly since 2019.
“Although an online price checker would be welcome, we also know
that the supermarkets don’t dominate fuel retailing in
Northern Ireland like they do on the other side of the Irish Sea,
where strangely fuel prices are consistently far cheaper. For
example, last month the average price of petrol in Northern
Ireland was 8.5p cheaper than the rest of the UK while diesel was
10p less, making every fill up there around £5 less.
“When the wholesale price of diesel fell this spring, we saw
average retailer margin reach 22p a litre which was more than
three times the long-term margin of 7p. This cannot be allowed to
continue when households are having to contend with a
cost-of-living crisis. We believe the biggest retailers that sell
the most fuel should be compelled to charge a reasonable margin
per litre.
“Talk of one supermarket running three fuel-saving discount
promotions was interesting as this generally only happens
when wholesale prices come down significantly. It is without
doubt just an attempt to drive footfall into store as opposed to
passing on lower prices on the forecourt and in turn sparking
greater competition which then benefits all drivers. It was also
intriguing to hear the boss of Morrisons say that there’s ‘a
bit more profit at the retail end of fuel’.
"For us, providing best value fuel is about truly reflecting
wholesale price movements at the forecourt. This means major
retailers fully passing on any wholesale savings they benefit
from to drivers when they fill up. We're concerned that to this
day this still isn't happening.”
