£1.50 a litre by September

15th March 2008

(Aldershot, UK) Crude oil hit a new all-time record high of $112.5 this morning (15.08.07), sparking fears that the UK could hit £1.50 a litre sooner than predicted.

The average price of diesel and unleaded also hit new records on Friday - 108.2p and 117.9p respectively. At the time of writing both fuels were hovering just below the new records at 107.9p and 117.1p.

The highest prices in the UK are nudging ever closer to £1.50 a litre, with the most expensive petrol in the UK costing 120p a litre, and diesel 127.9p a litre.

The rising pump prices could be alleviated if Opec, the oil producing cartel, pledges to increase production. However, they maintain that there is enough oil on the market at the moment.

Last month was the first time that motorists were unable to buy unleaded at £1 a litre, despite only reaching the landmark price in November 2007. The cheapest unleaded across the country is now 103.9p

"It's up to the government to put pressure on Opec to increase production so that prices fall. We predicted in February that petrol would hit £1.50 a litre this year, but if these conditions continue and the government doesn't work harder to stem the rising prices, then we're likely to hit £1.50 a litre by September. That would be a disaster for the country, so motorists need to voice their concerns and make sure action is taken. In the meantime, drivers should avoid the most expensive stations by using our free comparison service.”

~ Brendan McLoughlin - Managing Director - PetrolPrices.com.

The rising prices are being driven by market traders buying commodities such as oil and gold in order to protect their investments against the weakening dollar. In the last 3 years gold has roughly tripled in value, and hit an all time record of $1,033.9 per ounce last month.

Notes to editors

Petrolprices.com is the only free price comparison website for fuel prices in the UK. It allows consumers to search for the cheapest stations in their area, with potential savings of 15p a litre. PetrolPrices.com has over 2 million registered users, and 87% of 5000 users surveyed in September 2007 claimed the site saves them over £100 per year. As fuel prices rise the potential savings grow because the spread between the lowest and highest prices stations widens.

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Louise Doherty
Spokesperson

PetrolPrices.com
e:
w: www.petrolprices.com
p: 0844 816 0008