London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

UK petrol and diesel prices hit record highs amid claims of profiteering

UK petrol and diesel prices hit record highs amid claims of profiteering

RAC attacks big retailers for pushing up cost of living as oil prices soar because of Russia-Ukraine crisis
Fuel prices on forecourts have hit a record high, piling further pressure on motorists and businesses and adding to the soaring inflation at the heart of the UK’s cost of living crisis.

Petrol reached 149.1p a litre on Monday, meaning it would cost £81.95 to fill a 55-litre family car, while diesel also reached a record at 152.6p, making a similar-sized full tank almost £84.

The motorists’ organisation RAC blamed the rise on profiteering by petrol retailers and stubbornly high oil prices caused by tension between Russia and Ukraine.

“The relentless rising price of fuel is hurting households up and down the country, furthering the cost of living crisis,” said the RAC fuel spokesperson, Simon Williams.

The threat of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia – one of the world’s largest oil producers – has helped drive a rally in the price of the fossil fuel, which was already recovering ground lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

A barrel of Brent crude was up 0.6% to $94 (£69) on Monday, helping push fuel prices beyond the record set a week ago.

However, the RAC accused big forecourt operators of needlessly inflating prices for motorists.

“While the price of oil is still close to $100 a barrel, wholesale fuel prices don’t merit further retailer rises across the board at the pumps,” Williams said.

“We realise that smaller retailers who don’t buy fuel as frequently will be hit by higher wholesale costs but the biggest retailers who buy all the time shouldn’t currently be increasing their forecourt prices. We urge them to play fair with drivers at this difficult time.”

“Tension between Russia and Ukraine is still weighing heavy on the oil price but there is now a glimmer of hope that more oil may come on to the market from Iran due to a possible nuclear agreement with the US to end sanctions,” he added.

Increased fuel prices are likely to exacerbate the cost of living crisis, which is being driven by higher energy prices and tax rises. Inflation has reached a 30-year high of 5.5% and has been predicted to reach 8% in April.

Higher fuel prices mean tighter finances for motorists but also drive up costs for businesses that rely on transporting goods, potentially leading to further price rises.

Jez Lamb, the founder of the Wirral-based craft beer marketplace Beers@No.42, said: “Delivery vans don’t run on fairy dust and we’re being absolutely hammered right now.

“As a business that ships throughout the UK, we rely heavily on the courier network, which will inevitably pass on the rising fuel prices in what is termed the ‘fuel surcharge’. The big question is, do we pass that on to our own customers?

“Wherever we can, we try to absorb these costs as much as we can but margins are being squeezed everywhere. Something has to give and, unfortunately, smaller businesses, as ever, are the ones to suffer.”

As prices at the pump hit new highs, the trade union Unite signalled the possibility of fresh disruption because of a pay dispute with ExxonMobil, which owns the Fawley oil refinery that provides about a fifth of the UK’s road fuel.

Unite has begun balloting about 100 workers at the Hampshire site, warning that strike action could follow in April unless Exxon improves its “insulting” pay offer.

The union said members employed by three contractors on the Fawley site – Trant Engineering Ltd, Veolia Services and Altrad Services – had been “stunned” by an offer of a 2.5% pay increase for the next two years, given inflation is at 5.5%.

Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “The employers need to take back this insulting pay offer, which is actually a cut, and think again.

“Our members have mounting bills to pay like everyone else, and with runaway inflation there is no way we will accept a derisory 2.5% for this workforce … They deserve so much than this from Exxon, which is making money from oil and gas hand over fist.”

An ExxonMobil spokesperson said: “We understand this matter relates to ongoing pay negotiations between members of the Unite the Union and their respective employers, which provide third-party contracting services to our operation at Fawley.

“We hope that all parties can work together to reach a swift and amicable resolution.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×