Petrol prices soar to over 150p a liter: where is the cheapest fuel now?

Filling up at the pump has become significantly more expensive over the past month, with average petrol prices rising above 150p a liter for the first time since early January, AA data shows.

The average price of unleaded petrol is now 150.1p a liter while diesel has risen to 152.41p, further straining budgets amid the cost of living crisis.

Last month petrol and diesel were 143.61p and 151.63p per liter respectively, meaning the cost of filling a 55 liter car tank with petrol has increased by more than £3 and is now over £82.

Pump pain: Unleaded petrol prices have risen above 150p a liter for the first time in more than eight months

On average, Sainsbury’s now has the lowest costs for petrol and diesel.

Petrol prices rose the least of any brand last month, rising 4.11p to 143.88p a litre.

The retailer has overtaken Asda, which was the cheapest place to fill up last month and has historically recorded the best prices. Petrol costs have risen to 145.37p – or almost 5p a litre.

The supermarket was recently the first to start publishing its live fuel price data, allowing customers to track prices at UK petrol stations and find the best prices.

Shell’s prices have risen the most at over 7p per liter and have become the most expensive petrol station location.

The price hikes followed sharply rising wholesale costs for gasoline and diesel, which began to rise on July 17, causing prices at the pump to follow suit.

Fuel costs vary across the UK – drivers in the South East pay the most for petrol and diesel, while in Northern Ireland petrol prices are up to 5p a liter cheaper.

As the Competition and Markets Authority introduces its voluntary system at the end of August, requiring retailers to publish their gas station prices, it should soon become easier to compare prices at different gas stations.

“Wholesale price rises appear to have peaked for now, but the fallout from the recent surge is still seeping into pumps,” said Luke Bosdet, AA spokesman for pump prices.

“It’s still possible to find petrol stations that offer fuel at 4-5p a liter cheaper than most.” The problem is knowing where they are.

“Note the CMA’s voluntary system for retailers to register their pump prices on their websites for each of their service stations.” This should be operational shortly.

“The question is, how many retail brands have signed up?”

Retailers are driving prices higher due to rising oil and wholesale costs.

The wholesale price of gasoline rose 6p last month on higher oil prices, which rose $10 in July.

Oil prices rose from around $74 a barrel at the beginning of the month to $85.56 on July 31 – and remain around the same level today.

This is the highest oil price since mid-April.

Compounding the situation for UK motorists is that the pound has been falling against the US dollar since mid-July, falling to US$1.27 from a recent high of US$1.31.

This is causing “wholesale prices to increase significantly,” according to RAC fuel price expert Simon Williams, adding that retailers are “not wasting time passing this on to drivers”.