Markets latest: Stocks tumble and investors ‘panic’ as oil price sees biggest single-day spike in six years

Fuel prices are shooting up. Fast.

Petrol is up 5p to 137.5p and diesel up 9p to 151p a litre since the Middle East crisis began, according to the RAC (read more on the outlook for drivers in our previous post).

Diesel, in particular, is vulnerable to oil price shocks as the UK imports the vast majority of what we use these days.

We’ve now heard that the competition regulator is keeping an eye on the fuel market.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s executive director, Juliette Enser, told Sky News: “We understand public concern about the cost of fuel in light of the situation in the Middle East.

“We are closely monitoring how prices at petrol stations develop, and we will call it out if there are signs consumers are being ripped off.

“We also have the power to fine petrol stations that do not provide the data drivers need to easily compare fuel prices”, she concluded.

Motorists are being urged to shop around using the online fuel finder scheme to secure the cheapest unleaded and diesel costs. 

New rules this year compel forecourts to publish their prices within half an hour of a change.

Fuel finder was a key recommendation of the CMA’s after its fuel market investigation that followed the COVID pandemic. 

Updates to its findings have consistently shown that drivers are continuing to pay over the odds when filling up.

It is an accusation that fuel retailers have denied.