Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Petrol to touch £2.50 and diesel may be rationed, warn MPs

Petrol to touch £2.50 and diesel may be rationed, warn MPs
Fuel prices are seen at a petrol station on March 11, 2022 in Wimborne, England. Oil and Gas prices are hitting record highs across Europe due to sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
Getty Images

Petrol in the UK may touch £2.50 a litre, while diesel could hit £3 and may even be rationed, experts told MPs on Monday (14), calling on to subsidise lower-income households to cope with soaring home energy bills amid the current cost of living crisis.

Prices at the pump have jumped in recent weeks, reaching a succession of fresh highs. Te average cost of a litre of petrol on Sunday hitting 163.5p, while diesel was 173.4p, as per the latest UK forecourt figures from the data firm Experian Catalist.


Prices could increase much further if geopolitical tensions continue to keep oil prices high, with the cost of diesel in the UK, which gets 18 percent of it from Russia – potentially doubling, the Treasury committee was told, The Guardian reported.

Amrita Sen, a founding partner and the chief oil analyst at the research consultancy Energy Aspects, said the group was working on the assumption that oil could “easily” rise by 50 percent.

“If you do it on the basis of crude oil, we’re saying it could easily go up by 50 percent. Assuming no tax changes implemented by the government, [petrol] could end up being £2.40 per litre,” she said.

She said that because of diesel’s role in industry, it “could go to £2.50, even closer to £3. That’s definitely within the realms of possibility.”

Sen added that diesel was likely to be rationed in Germany before the end of March and that the same could happen in the UK.

Nathan Piper, the head of oil and gas research at Investec bank warned that consumers need to get ready for continued rises in fuel prices.

“Diesel runs the world,” he said. “Diesel runs the shipping lanes, the trains, the cars, everything.”

The price of Brent crude oil has approached record levels during the Ukraine crisis, while gas has far exceeded the all-time high reached only last year, in Europe and the UK.

More for you

Post Office cash deposits and withdrawals
Post Office, DPD partners to rollout ‘Click and Collect’ services
Post Office, DPD partners to rollout ‘Click and Collect’ services

Parliament to launch inquiry into Post Office Horizon scandal compensation delays

Parliament is to launch an inquiry into delays in compensation settlements for sub postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.

The newly-formed Business and Trade Select Committee will call ministers, subpostmasters and their lawyers to give evidence next week with a second session to follow in mid-November. The Committee’s chair, Liam Byrne MP told ITV News that there was “definitely a delay” in people coming forward for payment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Robbie MacDonald via LDRS

Shop’s licence bid rejected over illegal vapes and ‘no regard’ for children’s safety

A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.

Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.

Keep ReadingShow less
SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.

Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pound Sterling bank notes
iStock

National Living Wage to increase to £12.21 in April 2025

The government has on Wednesday announced its acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations on the rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).

The rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:

Keep ReadingShow less
Michael Fletcher

Michael Fletcher

Former Nisa chief Michael Fletcher appointed SPAR UK managing director

SPAR UK has announced the appointment of Michael Fletcher as its new managing director.

Fletcher spent 22 years at Tesco plc, where he held numerous senior commercial roles in the UK, Ireland and Asia. He joined Co-op Retail in 2013 where he held the position of chief commercial officer before moving on to become CEO of Nisa Wholesale, a role he held until 2022.

Keep ReadingShow less