July saw the first increase in the average price of petrol and diesel for three months following a late surge in the cost of oil.
RAC Fuel Watch data shows a litre of unleaded increased by nearly a penny (0.7p): having begun July at 114.47p it rose to 115.17p. Diesel went up by a similar amount (0.73p) from 115.27p to 116p. This means the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family car with either petrol or diesel remains above the £63 mark.
Both rises were brought about by a 6% increase in the price of oil which started July at $48.98 and closed $2.83 higher at $51.81. This contributed to a 2% rise in the wholesale cost of both fuels, the effects of which motorists may feel in the next week or two.
Prices at the UK’s big four supermarkets, which are responsible for 44% of all petrol and diesel sold, increased more with the average cost of supermarket petrol going up a penny (0.91p) from 111.14p to 112.05p and diesel by 0.83p from 111.63p to 112.46p.
Despite this, the current average price of a litre of petrol – 115.27p – is still more than 5p lower than the 2017 high of 120.45p seen on 19 February. And, the end of July diesel price of 116p is more than 6p a litre below this year’s high price of 122.35p (20 February).