While the price of diesel fell by nearly 4p per litre in April, a litre is still costing drivers an average of 159.4p, while petrol remained unchanged at 146.5p per litre. Although diesel prices have continued to fall for the last six months, drivers are still losing out on potentially massive savings.
The latest figures from RAC Fuel Watch found that the wholesale price of diesel was cheaper than petrol for the entire month of April.
The wholesale cost of petrol was down six pence in April to 111.25p per litre, while diesel dropped nine pence down to 104.88p.
Diesel drivers in England, Scotland and Wales are being ripped off at the pumps, with motorists in Northern Ireland benefitting from prices being 13p lower on average.
The RAC believes motorists should be paying around 143p at the very most for a litre of diesel, which would bring prices below that of petrol.
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For the average family car with a 55-litre tank, the price of filling with petrol is £80.60, compared to the diesel price of £87.69.
If prices were level with the RAC’s estimates, drivers could be saving as much as £9 per tank.
This figure would only increase for motorists with larger vehicles and vans who were spending upwards of £120 at the height of the fuel price crisis.
Simon Williams, RAC fuel spokesperson, commented that diesel drivers around the UK are continuing to “lose out badly”.
He added: “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 12 million diesel car drivers. We feel there should be an obligation on retailers to reflect wholesale price movements on their forecourts.
“Sadly, the only place this seems to happen is in Northern Ireland where a litre of diesel is, incredibly, being sold for 12p less than the UK-wide average.”
Historically, supermarkets have offered cheaper prices compared to major retailers, with petrol being 3.5p cheaper than the UK average and diesel 2.75p cheaper.
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Mr Williams continued, saying: “Action at a government level is badly needed to stop drivers being ripped off any longer.
“While we’re not in favour of prices being capped – as we feel this could lead to smaller retailers in rural areas not being able to compete and going out of business to the detriment of the communities they serve – we feel there should be an obligation on the biggest retailers to charge fairer prices in relation to wholesale market movements.
“We realise retailers need to make a profit but a margin of 22p on every litre of diesel can only be seen as outrageous and a slap in the face to those who depend on it, whether they’re consumers or businesses.”
The average retailer margin on a litre of diesel is 22p a litre, compared to petrol which is around 8p – something the RAC described as “shocking”.
He added that it was hard for retailers to justify, given the long-term average for both fuels was just 7p, meaning they now make triple what they had in the past for diesel.
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