The average price for a litre of diesel in the UK has broken the GBP6 (close to USD12 at current exchange rates) a gallon mark for the first time – the equivalent to 131.9p a litre – according to data from PetrolPrices.com.
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The UK average for both unleaded and diesel is at a record high today, following a 3 month period where prices have broken records almost every day. Unleaded currently stands at 118.6p, making it on average around 13p cheaper than diesel.
The average price of diesel in the UK has increased by 24p since the beginning of the year, or 22%. The price of diesel hit GBP5 a gallon for the first time in January this year.
The highest prices in the UK are nudging ever closer to ‘£1.50 a litre by September’ prediction made by PetrolPrices.com, with the most expensive diesel in the country costing 145.9p, and the most expensive unleaded costing 129.9p. The cheapest costs 113.9 and 126.9 for unleaded and diesel respectively.
Why is the price of diesel going up faster than regular unleaded in Britain? It’s a mixture of demand and supply-side factors.
On the demand-side, there are a lot more diesels in the British car parc these days as the diesel share of the UK car market has moved to over 40% from just 15% at the beginning of the decade.
And there are pressures and constraints on the supply-side which have coincided with increased demand to push the diesel price up.
Louise Doherty of PetrolPrices.com told just-auto: “The UK used to get a lot of its diesel from refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, but as production there has slowed, the demand for the available diesel has shot up. In short, there is less diesel available from the UK’s traditional suppliers to fuel more cars and more central heating systems than ever before.”
