Grangemouth pushes unleaded through £5 a gallon

28th April 2008

(Aldershot, UK) The average price for a litre of unleaded in Scotland has broken the £5 a gallon mark for the first time as a result of the strike at Grangemouth. It's the first part of the UK to see the landmark price as an average.

The average for the UK is hovering just below £5 a gallon (equivalent to 109.9p) and is set to hit a record £5 a gallon tomorrow (29/04/08).

As of today, the second day of the strike, the average price for Scotland stands at 110.2p a litre, and diesel 120.5p a litre. Before news of the Grangemouth strike broke the average price for unleaded stood at 108.3p and 119.1p for diesel (18/04/07).

UK prices have reached new highs again today, making it 15 straight days of record breaking prices. The UK average for unleaded is currently at 109.8p, and 119.8p for diesel.

The average price of both unleaded and diesel in the UK has increased by nearly 10% since the beginning of the year. The price of unleaded has increased 46% in the last 20 years.

Oil prices have continued to break new records, partly as a result of the Grangemouth strike, with a barrel of oil trading close to the $120 a barrel mark. Oil price rises take around 6 weeks to filter through to increased prices at the forecourts, so motorists should expect to see further record breaking prices for the next 2 months.

The highest prices in the UK are nudging ever closer to '£1.50 a litre by September' prediction made by PetrolPrices.com, with the most expensive unleaded in the country costing 119.9p, and the most expensive diesel 132.9p. The cheapest costs 104.9 and 111.9 for unleaded and diesel respectively.

"The strike at Grangemouth has had a huge impact on petrol prices, not just in Scotland. Although the government might lose tax revenue as a result of the closure of BP's Forties pipeline, thanks to the near two-thirds tax we pay on fuel the treasury will get a hefty unbudgeted boost because of the unprecedented price rises. Both oil companies and the government are doing very nicely out of this while the rest of the country is left out of pocket, and in some cases, out of fuel."

"Motorists can help keep the situation under control by not panic buying – where possible try to conserve existing fuel by walking, taking trains, lift sharing and driving economically. Also, if all motorists use PetrolPrices.com to find the cheapest fuel the most expensive stations will be forced to drop their prices to get business."

~ Brendan McLoughlin, Founder, PetrolPrices.com.

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