Price of petrol hits two-year high

Drivers have been warned to expect fuel prices to rise even further.

Fuel pumps (PA Archive)

Motorists are being warned to expect petrol prices to rise even further after reaching a two-year high.

A litre of the fuel costs an average of £1.29 at UK forecourts, Government figures show.

It has not been that expensive since June 2019, according to analysis by the PA news agency.

Diesel costs an average of £1.32 per litre, which is a level not seen since January 2020.

Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation said: “Petrol and diesel pump prices have now risen every week since the middle of last November – almost seven months in total.

“The increase is being driven by demand for oil with Brent Crude now above 70 US dollars a barrel compared with around 20 US dollars a barrel a little over a year ago.

“This in itself mirrors the rise in travel with weekday car traffic in the UK now back to where it was pre-pandemic.

“It looks like people who are looking forward to getting out and about in the good weather we’re having, eagerly awaiting the ending of the remaining Covid restrictions, will have to dig ever deeper into their pockets to fill up the family car if, as seems likely, the cost of forecourt fuel keeps on rising.”

Average fuel costs were just £1.05 per litre of petrol and £1.12 per litre of diesel in May 2020, when the global shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic led to a collapse in the value of oil.

Since then, the cost of filling up a typical 55-litre car has risen by around £13 for petrol and £11 for diesel.