By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor 6:00AM BST 20 May 2011
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Oil has gone down 10 dollars a barrel but this has led to only a 0.5p drop in the average price of a litre of petrol in the UK over the last few days, the AA reported.
The motoring organisation said that in theory the fall in oil prices, which have fallen from $125 at the start of this month to below $115, had immediately been translated into a fall in wholesale petrol prices. But this in turn had not been passed onto customers at the pumps. The fall should, in theory, be translated into a 4p cut in petrol prices.
However, average petrol prices are now 136.93p a litre – a 1.14p rise on the mid-April average and just off the record high of 137.43p set last week.
Average diesel prices were 141.99p a month ago, 143.04p last week and 141.49p now.
Petrol is now costing on average 15.43p a litre more than a year ago, with a two-car family spending £32.76 a month more on petrol than last May.
Diesel is 18.62p a litre more expensive than a year ago, adding £14.90 to the cost of refuelling a commercial van.
Luke Bosdet, a spokesman at the AA, said: "There is usually a ten day to a fortnight time lag between the fall in wholesale prices and pump prices. Prices started falling at the start of this month and so far drivers have seen little benefit."
He added that the organisation would be "very disappointed" if prices did not fall in the coming days. He added: "Our real fear is that the oil markets start to climb once again and the benefit of lower wholesale prices will be completely lost."
The organisation admitted that supermarkets had started cutting petrol prices, helping to trigger some local price wars, but that prices needed to fall further.
Edmund King, the AA president, said: "Record fuel prices have shaken up shopping patterns. People are beginning to factor in the fuel cost of driving to a large store to shop for basics. This has led to supermarkets trying to find ways to counter that disincentive with cut-price fuel or vouchers. This in turn tightens the pressure on non-supermarket retailers suffering from lower fuel sales."
