Pace of petrol price rise slows but motorists brace for crude shock

Petrol prices in the UK have risen to their highest ever, now averaging 91 pence per litre. The rate of increase, though, has slowed from 3.1 pence per litre in July to 2.3 pence in August, reveals The AA Motoring Trust's latest fuel price report.

Average crude oil prices, which rose 2.5 dollars a barrel between June and July, have so far soared a further five dollars in August* and are likely to push the average driver's monthly petrol bill over 100.

"It takes a little time for the price of crude oil coming out of the ground to work its way through the system and impact on pump prices," says Ruth Bridger, petrol price analyst for The AA Motoring Trust.

"With the average two-car UK household paying more than 25 per month extra on petrol, a slowing down of the price rise offers little relief, particularly while oil prices are still volatile."

With petrol now averaging 91 pence per litre compared to 79.6 pence in January, individual motorists are now paying 99.95 per month for petrol, compared to 87.43 at the beginning of the year. In households with two car-owning adults, this represents a 25.04 drain on family expenditure for the month.

The 11.4 pence per litre difference between January and current August prices means that UK motorists are now spending an extra 8.32 million on petrol every day.

NOTES TO EDITORS: * Average price of Brent crude oil (daily closing price): June - 55.5 dollars, July - 57.97 dollars, August (to date) - 63 dollars.

The average mileage of a typical privately-owned car is 8,700 miles. Averaging 30 miles per gallon, it consumes 290 gallons or 1318 litres of petrol per year.

UK consumption of unleaded petrol in 2003 was 19.72 million tonnes (source: DTI) or 73 million litres per day.

FUEL PRICE REPORT AUGUST 2005

On Sunday August 7 th the UK average price of Unleaded passed the 90p a litre barrier for the first time ever.

Prices rose during the month due to continued rises in the price of crude oil, which tipped $67 a barrel in early August. Prices during August to date have been over $60 a barrel (average daily closing price for Brent Crude in July was $57.97).

Unleaded prices rose this month by 2.3p per litre (10.5p per gallon), Diesel by 2p per litre (9.1p per gallon), and Super Unleaded by 2p per litre (9.1p per gallon).

Northern Ireland now has the highest average price for both Unleaded and Diesel. Wales and the South West have the next highest average prices, with Yorkshire and Humberside having the cheapest prices.

At Supermarkets Unleaded rose by 2.6p per litre (11.8p per gallon), Diesel by 2.4p per litre (11p per gallon), and Super Unleaded by 2.5p per litre (11.4p per gallon). Supermarket prices for Unleaded and Diesel are both 1.2p a litre below the UK average.

LPG rose by 0.4p per litre, although it rose by 1.2 p per litre at Supermarkets.

Overseas prices the UK again has the 5 th highest Unleaded price in Europe. The Netherlands is now selling Unleaded at an average price of just over 1 a litre.

* The AA Motoring Trust Fuel Price Report uses data sourced from Catalist Ltd & Arval (www.catalist.com)
They are an average of mid-month prices from the respective regions.

OVERSEAS PRICE COMPARISONS

Using currency exchange rates as at 16 August 2005 quoted in local currency and UK pence equivalent. Source of overseas price comparisons: European Road Information Centre (Geneva), and based on a twice-monthly sample.

Note: We receive international prices to 3 decimal places and calculate the UK pence per litre on that price. Therefore, some countries will show the same price in their local currency to 2 decimal places, but the UK pence price could be slightly different

See the latest FuelWatch: Monthly Fuel Price Reports