According to the RAC, average Petrol and diesel prices remained stable in July.

At 145p and 150p per litre (ppl), prices remain lower than 12 months ago.

However, despite wholesale prices meriting further cuts at the pumps, it claims that drivers are, on average, still paying 5p more than they should for petrol and 8p too much for diesel.

Lower still

The RAC analysis reveals that retailer margins are at 13p a litre for unleaded, up 3p in July, and at 14.5p for diesel.

This is well above the long-term averages of an 8ppl mark up.

Following the long-term average, prices would be closer to 140ppl for unleaded fuel and 142ppl for diesel fuel.

In contrast, drivers in Northern Ireland are paying these lower prices.

Supermarket sweep

Analysis of supermarket fuel prices shows that a litre of unleaded averaged 142p and diesel 147p at the 1,664 forecourts operated by the four major brands—3p below the UK averages for both petrol and diesel.

There are, however, some stark differences between each brand’s lowest and highest prices.

Buying petrol at an Asda-run forecourt – anywhere apart from on the motorway – can vary by as much as 18p a litre, the highest of any supermarket. The difference across all Tesco forecourts is the smallest at just 7p a litre.

For diesel, the gap between Asda’s low and high prices off motorways is 21p, with its rivals having a difference of around 13p.

 

Competition

The RAC has also discovered that Asda, which operates 665 forecourts – around half of which are at their supermarket stores – only provided pump prices to the Competition and Markets Authority voluntary data scheme on 12 days in July (39% of the time).

This is the worst level of compliance of the 14 participating retailers.

Three other supermarkets submitted data daily in July as did BP, Shell and the Motor Fuel Group, which operates 1,200 sites.

Retailers Ascona Group, which operates 61 forecourts under various fuel brands, and SGN, which has 102, were the only others not to have a 100% record.

They supplied data 25 and 22 times out of the month’s 31 days, respectively.

Waiting for change

Last year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that drivers were overcharged by an astonishing £1.6 billion over the year.

The government announced that retailers must publish fuel prices regularly to combat rising fuel prices at forecourts and provide motorists with more information on which to choose their fuel supplier.

It was believed this would encourage forecourts to lower prices.

But RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, says the latest results are “disappointing”.

“With our analysis clearly showing margins are still significantly above the long-term average, it seems like nothing has changed, and drivers continue to lose out despite all the ongoing scrutiny from the CMA and the Government.

“Coupled with this, the wholesale fuel market is trending lower due to the price of oil falling by $6 to around $80 at the end of July. This in itself ought to lead to lower prices at the pumps but, as the CMA made clear in its report, competition in fuel retailing is extremely weak.

“As a result, we sadly can’t see pump prices reducing much further without retailers’ acting on what the CMA is saying and finally introducing some much-needed fairer pricing strategies.”

Willimas adds: “The introduction of the Government’s Pumpwatch scheme can’t come soon enough, and neither can the setting up of the official price monitoring body, so long as the latter has the power to clamp down on retailers who consistently overcharge.”