As we move into the summer holidays, when families start to go away for summer, what were the prices like for last month, and what does that tell us about August? July is the start of the busy summer period heading into August when more than ever families need to fill up as they drive across the country for holidays. With that in mind, what is the forecast for next month and the rest of the summer?
The price of Brent Crude
One of the largest factors in how much it costs us to fill up at the pump is the price of Brent Crude, the oil our petrol and diesel is made from. July has seen some dramatic changes in the oil price with it starting the month at $77 a barrel then rising to a high of $79 a barrel on July 10th.
The price then saw a dramatic dip on the 16th going down as low as $72 a barrel. The rest of the month saw a steady increase, and it finished at $73 a barrel late Tuesday 31st July.
These consistently high prices have affected the price of filling up last month, as shown by the high prices below.
Highest and lowest diesel prices
For diesel drivers, the worst place to live for the cost of fuel in July was Woolacombe in Devon which saw the highest average price of the month, followed by the Isle of Benbecula and Acharacle in Scotland.
| Price | Town | County |
|---|---|---|
| £1.499 | Woolacombe | Devon |
| £1.469 | Isle Of Benbecula | Eilean Siar |
| £1.455 | Acharacle | Highland |
| £1.449 | Tighnabruaich | Argyll & Bute |
| £1.437 | Markfield | Leicestershire |
| £1.427 | Isle Of Unst | Shetland Islands |
| £1.415 | Willington | Derbyshire |
| £1.413 | Kyle Of Lochalsh | Highland |
| £1.411 | Lymm | Warrington |
| £1.402 | Isle Of Arran | North Ayrshire |
Other areas of Scotland were a lot better in terms of diesel prices with two locations in Midlothian topping the list of the lowest average prices around the country.
| Price | Town | County |
|---|---|---|
| £1.245 | Loanhead | Midlothian |
| £1.248 | Penicuik | Midlothian |
| £1.251 | Willenhall | West Midlands |
| £1.257 | Dukinfield | Greater Manchester |
| £1.259 | Clevedon | North Somerset |
| £1.259 | Broadstairs | Kent |
| £1.260 | Calne | Wiltshire |
| £1.260 | Spennymoor | County Durham |
| £1.261 | Haslingden | Lancashire |
| £1.264 | Heckmondwike | West Yorkshire |
Highest and lowest petrol prices
In terms of locations, petrol drivers around the country saw a similar pattern to diesel drivers with the most expensive spot for buying petrol being in Devon.
| Price | Town | County |
|---|---|---|
| £1.499 | Woolacombe | Devon |
| £1.459 | Tighnabruaich | Argyll & Bute |
| £1.439 | Isle Of Benbecula | Eilean Siar |
| £1.434 | Acharacle | Highland |
| £1.406 | Lymm | Warrington |
| £1.401 | Gretna | Dumfries & Galloway |
| £1.401 | Isle Of Unst | Shetland Islands |
| £1.399 | Freshwater | Isle Of Wight |
| £1.394 | Kyle Of Lochalsh | Highland |
| £1.389 | Cowes | Isle Of Wight |
Leigh in Greater Manchester was the cheapest place to fill up on petrol in July around the UK, followed by Loanhead in Midlothian.
| Price | Town | County |
|---|---|---|
| £1.185 | Leigh | Greater Manchester |
| £1.194 | Loanhead | Midlothian |
| £1.197 | Dukinfield | Greater Manchester |
| £1.201 | Heckmondwike | West Yorkshire |
| £1.206 | Leyland | Lancashire |
| £1.209 | Penicuik | Midlothian |
| £1.213 | Spennymoor | County Durham |
| £1.216 | Pudsey | West Yorkshire |
| £1.218 | Willenhall | West Midlands |
| £1.221 | Currie | Edinburgh |
Why are prices so high?
With people filling up for summer holidays or day trips, the big question many are asking is why prices are so high? While it is tempting to blame it on greedy fuel station owners trying to make money from us, the reality is more complicated and has little to do with them. They are probably losing more money at the moment as they try and remain competitive with other stations.
The rising cost of Brent Crude is one reason why prices are increasing. Also, because oil is sold in dollars, the weak pound to dollar exchange rate is also hitting everyone hard. The wholesale price of oil went as high as $80 a barrel twice in May, a three and a half year high – although not as bad as the peak price of $100 barrel seen in 2014. The price is still way above the low point of $40 a barrel seen in 2016, and even the $63 a barrel we saw in February/March this year.
There are lots of factors that influence how much oil costs. Tensions in the Middle East are a big factor behind the rising prices – as things get worse in the major oil-producing region, prices increase. Events like US President Donald Trump withdrawing from the deal with Iran in May affected the price, along with the airstrikes on Syria. Ongoing worries about a war between Israel and Iran also push up prices as Iran’s oil exports would be dramatically affected.
Other factors that affect price are largely unchanged at the moment. These include VAT which is charged at 20% on all transactions and the fuel duty charged by the government, currently 57.95p per litre. Although government ministers are planning to increase fuel duty by 8p a litre to help bring in more money for the NHS which will increase the cost of filling even more than it currently is.
Looking ahead to August
However, what about the rest of the summer? What might we expect regarding the price at the pump for August and beyond? Experts are saying that the cost of petrol is liable to stay much the same into next month while the cost of diesel is likely to come down slightly. However rising tensions between Iran and the US could have an impact on the wholesale price and affect those predictions.
The high prices are likely to affect most families that travel across the UK and into Europe for holidays, so there are a few things that you can do to help reduce the costs of filling up.
As always download the PetrolPrices app for when you’re on the go and need to fill up. You can search five times a day on the app when logged in, which is plenty enough to keep you going!
Try to fill up in busier areas as the price competition is higher, meaning that the prices are likely to be lower than elsewhere.
If you’re going on holiday to somewhere like Devon or the Isle of Wight, where filling up costs a lot more, considering driving a short distance out as the petrol or diesel will most likely be a lot cheaper.
What’s the price like in your areas? How much are you paying for petrol or diesel? Are the high prices affecting you? Let us know in the comments below.
Prices always seem to rise in the summer, even in Fraking central USA fuel prices have always peaked in the summer it’s in those involved business plans!
Why should only motorists be hit with an extra 8p to fund the NHS? Surely everyone has this responsibility so why not add it to taxation. That’s a massive increase when you think they already take 59p a litre and 20% vat! Wonder what will happen as electric car use increases, I have a pretty good idea!
What about government stop collaborating with rich tax evaders and start changing some laws to stop cheating the NHS of what is due to keep us all well looked after?
Because MPs are the rich tax evaders!
Tax evasion is illegal so any MPs doing so should and would be forced to resign and prosecuted. Are you perhaps referring to tax avoidance which is legal and everyone with an ISA or pension makes use of? There are however plenty of loopholes that need to be closed but the problem is it is easy for the really wealthy to move money between jurisdictions so any major increase would probably actually reduce the tax take
Tax evasion may be illegal but having a very good accountant will find the loopholes – the same loopholes the Govt know about but refuse to plug – Joe Public cannot afford a good accountant (or any accountant for that matter)
Expect EV cars to have a honeymoon until the tipping point is meant and then the Government will increase and put a tax on charging your EV. They are already saying charging more for EV households for peek time charging. I read an article around what is coming for EV. I suspect a tax on the mileage you do will be next on EV’s.
When the Brent crude price was $100 per barrel, what was the price per litre at the pump?
Not sure, but when crude was trading at $130 a barrel back in 2010, the price of diesel was around £1.30 per litre. Given that fuel duty hasn’t increased at all since 2010, it’s obvious that it’s the greedy oil companies who are ripping us all off.
Diesel is £1.319 in Folkestone Kent at the moment
The high cost of fuel is also driving up the cost of food, which has to be transported by road.Fuel affects the cost of almost all consumer goods so that the cost of living will remain high until oil prices come down. Added to Brexit and the fears for our future when this takes place makes for a very uncertain future.
Brexit is an opportunity, Valerie, not a ‘fear for the future’. It will be what we make it (from one who remembers it) as when we were free before Ted Heath took us into the Common Market in 1973 (on what even he admitted in later life were ‘terms so bad’ he couldn’t tell the truth about it). Just such a shame we have wasted so many years and lifetimes in the meantime. Anyway, fuel prices will continue to be as much as oil producing countries can get, combined with as much tax as misdirected governments can extract. Get solar panels, get an electric/hybrid vehicle, get free. And do please get positive!
Connie, get real. do you really think you will be able to influence what happens with the Brexit negotiations? you, like me, do not have a crystal ball.
Connie, it may be free at the moment but be assured when enough people start using EV’s taxation in one form or another will be implemented by the government no matter who is in power.
As the infrastructure that is required to supply enough generated electrical power to serve all the charging points that will be required in the future will need to be paid for then EV’s will be a prime target for taxation to pay for it and if you think that home charging will be free then think again.
I will give you one example of where we are heading Connie. Brits don’t want to do low paid task, like picking fruit and veg. Workers from Europe did. When we struggle to find workers to do these tasks the farmers pay more and we pay more for the fruit and veg or we import expensive fruit and veg. Brexit was a mistake brought about by misinformation and lies.
we have loads of people who can pick fruit once workers from Europe are gone, they are called the unemployed. This Govt needs to change Benefit rules….. to claim unemployment benefit you must be ready to work, so make them work
You can give me all the facts you like as to the oil price and the like, petrol supplying companies know when we use our cars the most and adjust the prices upwards accordingly. It is all about profit and they do not care how much they rip off the customer. The moment the oil price goes up, up goes the petrol price, however, the moment the oil price goes down, it is ages before the petrol goes down to reflect that drop. Rip off, complete rip off.
They don’t have enough power to charge the electric cars as they never build new power stations for the ones they pulled down
With Brent at c$73, forecourt price should on historic comparison be little more than £1 a litre: so somebody is ripping us off. Good if PP could revert to a more aggressive campaigning mode, as successive govt and EU reports have failed to pinpoint the problem.
The impending increase for the NHS is penalising motorists what about non drivers that still use the NHS. The money that will be saved from the EU surely comes from vat etc so why do motorists have to foot the bill AGAIN.
“July is the start of the busy summer period heading into August when more than ever families need to fill up as they drive across the country for holidays.”
You do have to laugh sometimes in this country, in many parts of the world people are starving, they have to walk miles just to collect water to drink, we moan about a few pence added to the cost of our holidays as this article starts off talking about.
Oh, how will we survive? Most of us will not even notice it.
And do we all have corruption and profiteering all around us? We do indeed, it is just more heartless in some places than others.
Asda, which usually ha cheap fuel prices, dropped their prices mid-June; from the 17 to the 27 June it then closed it’s forecourt at our local supermarket while the price was lower than it had been for months. Once the forecourt re-opened the price rose by 4p within three week.
Yes Andy. But supermarket diesel is not very good. There’s no additives in it to keep your engine from clogging up.
What a load of tosh. I have driven approx 40,000 miles in the past year as a volunteer driver and all I use is supermarket fuel. My car is still running as well now as they day I bought it.
This is rubbish, the price of oil has been dropping steadily for the past month. Today’s Brent Crude price is UNDER $72 per barrel. The $/£ exchange rate has also been steady during this period. Petrol and diesel prices are still increasing, at least in my area, (North West), and this is purely down to the greed of the oil companies, who have all recently announced all time record profits.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good rant, especially if you know nothing about the subject…oil companies have not announced record profits recently as you claim.
And the closure of petrol stations year o n year might just indicate that fuel retailing is not the cash cow you think it is…
Instead of increasing duty by a further 8p per litre to spend on the NHS, do away with the ridiculous foreign aid budget which goes to mainly undeserving causes and countries now more wealthy than ours. Charity begins at home!!!
Why own a car if you cannot afford fuel so that you can use it ?
Some people do not live in city centres with subsidised public transport!
We have a petrol station close to us, within sight of a major holiday route to the south west, where the fuel prices appear to be increased on summer weekends to catch the holiday traffic. Very cynical!
Since Newport, Isle of Wight, has had both petrol and diesel prices way lower than 120p per litre all year (and still has), how come the town doesn’t feature at all in your lists? I have received their prices in my reports from you since last year!
It’s the oils producing countries that are to blame for the high price of oil. They collaborate with each other to keep the prices high as they know we need oil and will pay what ever price they say. They could produce more oil and reduce the price, but their greedy and if the price looks like it will come down they cut production to keep the prices high. You see these rich Arabs that have so much money they don’t know what to do with it all from oil. But if the price of oil drops they won’t let it drop and take a profit cut they just cut production to keep the prices high. It’s not as if we have a choice anymore we have used all our oil from the North Sea and technology isn’t advanced enough for vehicles to run on anything but petrol and diesel. We have electric cars but even these have limited miles but no electric lorries or planes.
Oh but I thought we were going to fund the NHS with the Brexit windfall!
why does petrol always go up more esp during school terms, surely they should be lowering it down to get people out, also why dont british petrol stations check there prices like they do on the continent /????