The RAC has called on fuel retailers to lower the overall price of diesel at the pumps, with the wholesale cost now having almost reached the same as petrol, despite the fact that average forecourt costs are 6p a litre more expensive. On Friday 30th May, figures showed that the wholesale price of unleaded was 103.5p per litre, with diesel only half a pence more expensive at 104p per litre.æ Despite the closing gap between the two, the average retail price for diesel was 136.26p compared to 130.22p for petrol.æ A year ago, the gap between wholesale prices was 2p per litre, with diesel on around 4.5p more expensive at the pumps. Motorists are understandably puzzled as to why the retail price of diesel is so much higher.æ The RAC has called upon the fuel industry for an explanation as to why the discrepancy exists.æ The gap between wholesale costs has been at around 2p since April, meaning that the industry has had plenty of time to pass the saving onto motorists. As a traditional rule, retailers usually make around 4p per litre on delivered fuel.æ However, they are currently profiting by up to 7.5p per litre on diesel and 3p per litre on petrol.æ For an average 55 litre tank of diesel, this means an extra £1.92 profit of revenue. Simon Williams, the fuel spokesman for the RAC, said: 'Transparent, fair fuel pricing is vital for the economy and to maintain the trust of motorists. While two thirds of Britain's 29m cars run on petrol we use twice as much diesel, around 26bn litres a year, which demonstrates how important it is to business through our 460,000 HGVs, 3.2m vans and all the diesel-powered company cars on the road which cover high mileages every year. 'In the last year retailers have been noticeably quicker to pass on reductions in the wholesale price to forecourts, but we are now seeing an unfortunate blip in that trend where diesel prices are higher than they really need to be. There has been talk of the fuel retailers using higher diesel prices to keep petrol prices lower, but whether or not that's the case, the simplest way to operate must be to make sure retail prices always reflect wholesale prices proportionately. This has to be fairer in the long run for both private motorists and businesses alike.î Due to the start of the American holiday season, it's likely that the price of diesel will remain low in the coming weeks.æ The US has far more petrol vehicles than diesel, meaning that petrol production will be boosted in order to meet the increased demands, causing a slight increase in petrol retail prices: in turn, this narrows the gap with diesel pump prices.
