Petrol prices leapt up in August, rising by 6.68p per litre, one of the largest monthly price increases in over 20 years. According to the RAC, only the effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and a one-off increase in October 2021, caused sharper price hikes.

According to the RAC, the main cause of the latest increase was a decision by the OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries deciding to lower production, which increased the price of a barrel of oil by nearly $12 to almost $87 – the average forecourt price for a litre of petrol rose to 152.25p in August.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said that the increase could have been even more. “While the increase is clearly bad news for drivers, it could have been far worse had the biggest retailers not let their inflated margins from earlier in the year return to more normal levels as wholesale fuel costs went up.” Retailers’ decision to squeeze profits a little to keep the increase lower may have also been influenced by an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority last year.

Jim Freeman, BMF Chair, commented: “Ah, OPEC, one of the biggest reasons for us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Along with climate change, of course. Nobody, thus far, has fought wars over climate change, but they certainly have over oil, as we have all seen.”

Written by Peter Henshaw

Top mage courtesy of Marcus Spiske – Pixabay