British drivers are being hit with £15million in extra costs as retailers hike up their prices over the Iran war – but rogue forecourts have been put ‘on notice’
The Iran war is set to cost UK motorists £15million a day in extra fuel costs as retailers hike prices at petrol forecourts around the country.
Consumers have seen the price of unleaded petrol soar by more than 6p per litre over the last couple of weeks – adding more than £3.30 to the cost of filling up the standard family car.
And after Iran vowed that it would “not allow even a single litre of oil” to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the average price of unleaded E10 fuel on British forecourts is edging towards 140p per litre, with the cost of diesel rising even faster to just over 157p per litre.
READ MORE: Iran war Brits fighting off so many drones extra rockets had to be flown inREAD MORE: Ed Miliband’s top-tip for drivers to find the cheapest fuel prices amid Iran war fears
The impact of the price hikes means that the average cost of all the fuel bought each day in the UK is already costing motorists £12.9m more than it did before the Iran war began on 28 February, and that figure is set to pass £15m on current trends.
You can use our interactive gadget to see how much retailers are charging today at petrol stations in your area.
Prices in your area mapped
Check out our interactive map to compare your area with the rest of the country:
Why are petrol prices rising so quickly?
Since attacks by the US and Israel began on February 28, Iran has targeted the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to maximise disruption and wreak havoc on global oil prices.
Shipping through this narrow waterway – which in normal times carries around 20% of the world’s seaborne oil and gas exports each day – has effectively been halted in response, sparking major fears over supply and triggering a sharp rise in prices.
An Iranian armed forces spokesperson said on Wednesday: “We will not allow even one litre of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the benefit of the U.S. and its allies,”
“Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel.”
The US Air Force attacked 16 mine-laying Iranian ships in the strait this week, and yesterday it was announced by the White House that the US Navy would be launching an operation to escort oil tankers. But as the crisis reaches the two-week mark as tankers avoid potentially catastrophic trips, it’s unlikely things will be back to normal until the war in Iran ends.
Price-gouging forecourts ‘put on notice’
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has put fuel retailers “on notice” that it is stepping up monitoring of petrol and diesel prices in light of the Middle East conflict.
The CMA’s executive director for markets, Juliette Enser, said: “Whilst price increases might be inevitable because of rising wholesale costs, it is important that those increases reflect genuine cost pressures.
“We will be closely scrutinising and reporting on what’s happening with fuel prices and call out any concerning behaviour.”
Analysis of the retailer data published by the government shows large differences in the price changes across the main petrol station operators.
The average price of unleaded petrol was 137.3p on Tuesday this week, and that was an increase of 6.3p compared to February 19th, a week before Donald Trump started bombing Iran.
Texaco and Morrisons have put up prices by 7p a litre in the same time frame, Asda Express, which operates service station forecourts, has put up prices by 10.1p.
Where have prices risen fastest?
The biggest increase has been by Essar, which operates around 70 petrol stations in the north west of England. The price of a litre of unleaded petrol at Essar was 139.9p on 10th March, which is 14p higher than the company was charging on February 19th. That is equivalent to an 11 per cent price increase.
Essar said the relatively larger increase at its forecourts was because the retailer had slashed prices during a promotion before the Iran war, which had now come to an end.
A spokesperson said: “Today, petrol prices on Essar’s forecourt are below the national average, outside of the supermarket forecourts. At the start of the year, we ran a temporary price-drop campaign and average prices at Essar garages were lower than at all other major retailers.
“The comparison time range begins during this temporary price-drop and therefore distorts the percentage increase compared to peers. Any changes to prices since have only brought us closer to, but still below, the national average and we are committed to offering our customers competitive prices every day.”
