Amidst the fuel delivery crisis the average price of a litre of both petrol and diesel rose in September to make a tank around £12 more expensive than a year ago, according to new RAC Fuel Watch data.
Unrelated to the current troubles at the pumps, unleaded went up 1.5p to 136.83p while diesel rose by 2.5p to 139.25p.
Is makes petrol 22p a litre more expensive than a year ago and diesel 21p dearer.
Both average prices are moving ever closer to the record highs of April 2012.
Both fuels are now at prices last seen eight years ago in autumn 2013, with petrol only being 5.65p off the all-time high of 142.48p and diesel 8.68p off the record of 147.93p.
For those fortunate enough to have been able to fill up a 55-litre family car with petrol at the end of September they would have paid £75.26 – up 85p in September and £12.22 on 12 months ago.
A full tank of diesel is now £76.59 – up £1.40 in September and £11.63 more than a year ago.
Related: One in two drivers affected by fuel supply problems
The rise at the pumps has been driven not by the delivery crisis but by a 10.65 per cent increase in the price of oil from $71.29 to $78.88 throughout September.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Not only are motorists struggling to put fuel in their vehicles, they are having to pay through the nose for it as the rising cost of a barrel of oil is causing further pain at the pumps.
“As life moves ever closer to normal as the world gets to grips with Covid-19, demand for oil is outpacing supply, and with producer group OPEC+ deciding on Monday not to release more oil, the barrel price has now broken through the $80-mark for the first time in more than three years.
“This looks likely to spell further misery for drivers at the pumps as we head towards Christmas, especially as some analysts are predicting the price could even hit $90 before the end of the year.
“If this were to happen, we could see the average price of unleaded hit a new record of around 143p per litre.
“Diesel would shoot up to 145p which is only 3p off the record high of 147.93 in April 2021.”
Prices at the four major supermarkets were 4p a litre cheaper than the UK average while at motorway services they were 15p more expensive for petrol at 151.55p and 156.35p for diesel.
Asda sold the cheapest unleaded at 132p while Sainsbury’s offered the lowest price diesel at 134.28p.
