Petrol prices in the UK have soared past the pre-recession record set back in in July 2008.
According to PetrolPrices.com the average cost of fuel in the country now stands at 120 pence per litre for petrol and 120.6 pence for diesel. This overtakes the 2008 record when petrol cost 119.7pence a litre- a price causeD by record crude oil prices. The news of rising fuel costs has infuriated drivers as crude oil prices remained suppressed by a global downturn in the economy.
Back in July 2008 crude oil cost around US$147 per barrel, while current prices stand at closer to $86. However the rise in retail fuel prices is driven by the current value of the pound and rising production costs, industry experts say.
Furthermore this is exasperated by an 1 pence per litre rise in fuel duty on April 1 and the recent withdrawal of the biofuel tax subsidy.
A litre of petrol is now more than 10p more expensive than at the start of the year when it cost 109.88pence. This is adding £5 the cost of a typical 50-litre refill.
According to the AA, motorists are reducing their car use in response to record high fuel prices. The motoring organisation reports that petrol sales were down 10 per cent in the last quarter of 2009.
“Over the [bank holiday] weekend, some retailers who put prices up 2p a litre, in line with the increase in duty and other costs, brought them back down. Such is the knife-edge between what drivers can and cannot afford to spend on fuel," says Edmund King, the AA’s president.
