Petrol prices risk reaching a new Iran war high, warns the RAC, with Brent Crude breaching the $100-mark for the first time in two months.
The latest 6% spike followed a sharp escalation in Middle East geopolitical tensions, after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes targeting two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
In the days prior to the escalation, the global benchmark for oil prices was above $90 dollars a barrel.
As a result, says the RAC, pump prices have risen again since yesterday, with the average price of unleaded jumping by more than half a penny a litre. It is now up 5.6p a litre since July 6, at 156.19p.
Diesel, which went up by another penny, has undergone a sharper rise at 8.6p in just over two weeks, and now averages 173.15p.
This, the RAC says, translates to increases of 4% and 5% respectively over the lowest prices during the conflict.
“Although not as great as the start of the conflict, it’s nonetheless worrying as both fuels are so much more expensive than they were then,” says the RAC. This means that a tank of fuel for a family-sized petrol car now costs £86 while the diesel equivalent is £95.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams says the increases take the cost of filling up back to a level last seen in mid-June – “something we all hoped we’d seen the back of”, he adds. “Unless the hostilities end soon, it’s hard not to see the price of petrol reaching a new Iran war high.”
Shell dealer Goran Raven, who buys fuel on a daily basis, says that he has seen an instant impact from the spike in the price of Brent Crude, pushing up the price he pays for unleaded and diesel. The Abridge, Essex-based forecourt operator has been hit with a 21.63p per litre increase on his wholesale diesel prices since the start of the month.
“We have no option other than to increase our prices to the customer. We use social media to explain to our customers why the prices are increasing,” he says.
