The government may recently have conceded that grade availability will not initially form part of the forthcoming Fuel Finder scheme, but the Competition and Markets Authority’s scrutiny of the forecourt sector continues, with the organisation finding that fuel margins remain “high”.
The regulator’s latest monitoring reports finds that while “fuel prices across the UK decreased for both petrol and diesel from end of February 2025 to end of May 2025”, supermarket margins rose from 7.9% in February 20205 to 8.3% in March, while non-supermarket margins rose from 8.9% in January, to 10.4% in March.
The CMA says the average price of a litre of unleaded was 132 pence at the end of May ’25, with diesel 138.4ppl.
The organisation notes that the monitoring report “does not consider developments in operating costs since the road fuel market study”, and that these will be assessed in the “first annual road fuel monitoring report later this year”.
Dan Turnbull, senior director of markets at the CMA, commented: “While there is uncertainty over how global events will impact the price of oil, our report shows fuel margins remain high compared to historic levels despite lower prices at the pump in recent months.”
