Petrol tops 146p or the first time ever – the cheapest and most expensive locally

The price of petrol has continued to rise since it broke through the previous record high of 142.48p on 24 October, going up 3.5p in nearly three weeks, according to data from the RAC.

This means filling up a 55-litre family car with unleaded has now topped £80 for the first time ever.

Diesel also climbed another 2p since it hit a new record price at the start of the month and is about to hit the milestone of 150p a litre.

A full tank of diesel now costs a whopping £82.

While the jump in the price of oil is main reason for the new record pump price it is not the only factor.

September’s switch to greener E10 petrol has also played a part, as has the margin retailers are taking on every litre sold which is now greater than it was prior to the start of the pandemic.

On 1 September the bio content of unleaded increased from 5% ethanol to 10%, and as ethanol is more expensive than petrol, it added around a penny a litre to the cost on the forecourt.

The bio element of a litre now accounts for 12.8p of the cost prior to VAT in comparison to the pure petrol cost which equates to around 41.6p.

The price of ethanol has gone up by 52% since E10 was introduced.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said:

“Drivers are desperately in need of some respite at the pumps, but it’s hard to see when that’s going to come and it could well turn into an excruciatingly expensive winter for drivers.”

“Oil is still trading well above $80 and the cost of the bio components of both fuels are higher than ever and retailers are still taking more margin per litre than they traditionally do.”

“The combined effect is going to be hard for many families on lower incomes who depend on their cars day to day.”

“There will also be a very unwelcome impact on businesses, which tend to be very dependent on diesel, and, in turn, this will lead to a knock-on effect on retail prices potentially adding more fuel to the fire of rising inflation.”

According to data published by PetrolPrices.com, for the 11 November shows Applegreen service station in Mold has the cheapest unleaded petrol locally at £143.8p

Tesco Broughton (as of 10 November) was the second cheapest at £143.9p, At Asda Queensferry, the price of a litre of unleaded was £144.7 on Wednesday.

The most expensive petrol locally can be found at BP Parkway at Deeside Industrial Estate where a litre of unleaded (as recorded on Tuesday) stood at £149.9p