Diesel prices drop, but drivers still paying well over the odds. says RAC

The price of diesel in the UK saw a decrease of almost 4p per litre in April, but drivers are still paying at least 16p more than they should, according to RAC Fuel Watch data.

Despite being 6p cheaper than petrol on the wholesale market, diesel costs drivers an average of 159.43p per litre across UK forecourts, while petrol remained at 146.5p per litre.

April marked the sixth consecutive month of falling diesel prices, yet RAC data revealed that drivers are still losing out as the wholesale price of diesel was cheaper than petrol throughout the month.

On 28 April, wholesale diesel cost 104.88p per litre, down 9p in the month, while unleaded was 111.25p, down 6p in April.

Diesel remains 13p more expensive at the pump, except in Northern Ireland where it averages 147.47p per litre.

The RAC believes that drivers should pay around 143p per litre at most for diesel.

Filling a 55-litre family car with petrol costs £80.60, while the diesel equivalent is £87.69.

If diesel were sold at a fairer price of 143p per litre, drivers could save £9 per tank.

At the end of April, the average price of unleaded at one of the big four supermarkets was 142.99p, 3.5p cheaper than the UK average.

Diesel was 2.75p cheaper than the average at 156.68p, down 3p since the beginning of the month.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said diesel drivers across the UK mainland continue to lose out badly at the pumps.

He called for action at a government level to stop drivers being ripped off any longer and for an obligation on the biggest retailers to charge fairer prices in relation to wholesale market movements.

Williams highlighted that the average retailer margin on a litre of diesel is 22p compared to petrol’s 8p, which is difficult to justify and hard for diesel drivers to accept.

He said: “Diesel drivers across the UK mainland continue to lose out badly at the pumps. They’re paying 13p a litre more for the fuel than petrol, despite diesel being cheaper for retailers to buy on the wholesale market for all of April.

“This just isn’t fair for the country’s 12m diesel car drivers. We feel there should be an obligation on retailers to reflect wholesale price movements on their forecourts.”