After the seventh month of rising prices petrol is now more than 22p a litre more expensive than a year ago – the biggest 12-month increase seen for 11 years, says RAC Fuel Watch.
Unleaded went up by more than 2p a litre (2.24p) in May to 129.27p while diesel also increased by a similar amount (1.95p) to 131.59p. In the seven months since the country last saw the average price of petrol fall (November 2020) petrol has increased by 15.5p. Diesel is now almost 20p dearer than at the end of last May (19.73p) after a 14.4p hike in the last six months alone.
The 22p surge in the price of petrol followed a litre dropping to an average of just 106p (105.81p) on 21 May 2020 on the back of oil plunging to $13.21 a barrel at the beginning of the pandemic. Petrol last rocketed by this amount over a 12-month period in May 2010.