The outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that usually carries about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, and this has sent global fuel prices soaring.
Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, meaning higher wholesale costs make filling up a car more expensive.
The recent increases means the cost of filling up a family car with petrol has risen by £14, while a tank of diesel costs £27 more.
But fuel 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.
Diesel has gone up more than petrol because it is harder to refine. The UK has to import around half of what it uses from abroad, and demand is very high globally.
“Wholesale fuel costs are now significantly lower than they were at the start of the month, so forecourt prices should begin to come down,” said the RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams.
“As things stand, we’d expect petrol and diesel to drop by several pence a litre in the next week or so,” he added.
“It will be very interesting to see if this plays out as the data indicates. We hope it does as drivers could do with some relief at the pumps.”
