Fuel Prices Stayed Steady in August – But Did You Notice?

Unleaded prices remained steady through August, with the average pump price dropping 1.5 pence per litre across the month. Many drivers may not have noticed a drop at all as the four main supermarkets held prices almost unchanged through the month.

Morrisons customers were the most likely to see a change, as unleaded retreated by an average of 0.50ppl across the month, securing their position as the second lowest priced unleaded retailer behind Asda.

Diesel followed a similar trend, with average prices falling by 1.9ppl, but this was significantly less pronounced at supermarkets, where the average drop was only 0.20ppl.

Wholesale data from Portland Pricing shows that both grades traded within a tight band through the month, with the lowest and highest prices less than 2.5ppl apart. A stable underlying wholesale market helped translate to a more stable retail price for UK motorists during the peak driving season.

Tap on our interactive graphs below to compare supermarkets throughout the weeks in August

The spread between retail and wholesale prices is currently at, or close to, the 6-month average. However, wholesale prices did push higher during the final ten days of August and have continued to move higher into September.

This is largely due to risk premiums being priced into the markets. There remains uncertainty around the Russia-Ukraine conflict and increasing pressure from the US on secondary tariffs for countries such as India that are purchasing Russian oil.

Countering these pressures is the threat of a supply glut as OPEC+ completes the unwinding of 2.2 million barrels per day in September.

For now, prices seem to be holding, and there is no clear direction for retail prices to take. Price decreases are outweighing increases, and 2nd September saw more daily price decreases than any day in August as bp and Asda dropped prices at some of their stores.

However, with rising wholesale costs, it is unclear whether this represents a market trend or an effort by bp and Asda to increase competitiveness. It remains to be seen if other stations will cut margins to increase market share as we head out of the summer driving season.

5.7% more UK drivers used the PetrolPrices app to navigate to a Petrol Station in August than they did in July. The number of drivers travelling to stations in France increased by 20.6% month on month.

Did you use the app to save money this summer? Let us know your successes in the comments below