Motorist Costs Just Keep on Climbing - 16th Mar 2008

News of Oil hitting over $110 a barrel shows that our petrol price misery is here to stay. With the turmoil in the financial markets traders are turning more and more to Commodities (Oil and Gold) and therefore are driving up the price that we pay out our pumps.

Our recent survey shows that Unleaded petrol is looming ever closer to the £5 a gallon mark and currently stands at 106.8p a litre, this is the highest it has ever been, just piping its last peak at 106.7p/litre back in Jan 08. If the budget had not delayed the 2p rise in fuel duty then we would surely be seeing £5 a gallon before the end of the month.

“Our analysis shows that if oil stays stubbornly above $100 a barrel then we will see £5 a litre for Unleaded fuel, with or without any fuel duty increases.” Alastair Taylor from Whatprice.co.uk

People also seem to have forgotten that the unfortunate Diesel users are suffering even worse price hikes. The average price of a litre of Diesel now stands at 113.8p/litre, a full 7 pence more expensive than Unleaded fuel.

“Diesel is at an all time high and shows no sign of slowing its increase. Consumers are getting clobbered with a 7 pence premium over Unleaded which is the highest difference between the two fuels that we have ever seen” Jon Pearson from Whatgas.com

Typically Diesel and Unleaded fuel track each other to within +/-2pence, but since Diesel went through the £5 a gallon barrier on Jan 16th 2008 (http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=84254&in_page_id=34) the ceiling has been broken, and the price at the pump has been climbing steadily. Is this just profiteering? Diesel is at an all time price premium over Unleaded Petrol, and the gap is growing. Are the oil companies keeping the price of Unleaded low whilst allowing Diesel to spiral to ever higher prices?

You can help the motorists keep track of petrol prices by featuring our online petrol mapping system on your website. For a limited time only we are allowing every newspaper the chance to feature a syndicated map of petrol stations showing the price of Unleaded, Diesel and LPG. The map be adjusted to centre on any UK location and is searchable by Postcode or Postal Town. For more information visit www.whatgas.com/syndication.aspx

If you thought that things couldn’t get any worse, there is of course more bad news for the motorist from the latest budget. Despite being given a reprieve on fuel duty there is still a planned hike of 2p a litre in Oct 08 and a further rise of 0.5p in 2010. On top of that there has been an overhaul of the car tax system with an additional ‘first year’ tax coming into effect in 2009. The least polluting cars will be rewarded with no tax to pay in their first year, but the more polluting cars will have to pay up to £950 in their first year and then up to £455 a year from then on. The table below gives full details.

If you are worried about petrol prices then take a look at our recent petrol price submissions , you may find that your local forecourt appears there!