March saw prices tumble at the pumps, with the average price of unleaded dropping from 139.5ppl to 135.2ppl. This was in part due to Asda cutting its prices by 4ppl on the 14th March. The other major supermarkets followed, and the entire market dropped as a result.
Asda has been losing market share across its retail offerings to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Aldi. As a result, it has cut prices on 1,500 popular products in-store and at the pump. Asda has historically offered the lowest fuel prices, and therefore, a move to win back market share by reducing prices increases competition in the sector.
However, wholesale unleaded prices increased by 6ppl across March according to data from Portland Pricing. This increase in wholesale costs and reduced prices at the pump has and will squeeze fuel retailers’ margins. The difference between wholesale and retail prices is now 3ppl below the six-month average, and so it’s likely retailers will begin to want to increase prices to maintain or improve margins.
In fact, the average prices on unleaded increased by 0.80ppl at Asda stations on 1st April, the first average price increase in over a month. We are also seeing the average price of unleaded start to increase again across all stations. As with the decrease led by Asda, this increase may well open the door for Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons to raise prices, further increasing prices across the UK.
The increase in wholesale costs is also squeezing diesel margins, but not to the same extent. It’s possible that diesel prices could remain stable, but further decreases seem unlikely.
Until 29th March, we saw seven times more stations decrease prices than increase them. However, that trend shifted overnight on the 30th, and now four times more stations are increasing prices than reducing them.
On 31st March, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released its quarterly report on the fuel retail market, finding that between November and February 2025, unleaded petrol margins had dropped by 1.1ppl compared to the previous year. However, margins remained “significantly above historic levels.”
Wholesale prices will be putting upward pressure on prices, and we have already started to see prices increase at the pumps. If Asda wants to win market share and can hold prices lower, then there is a chance that pump prices won’t rise; however, further decreases seem highly unlikely at this moment in time.
With prices changing quickly, check the PetrolPrices app and create a personalised Price Alert to receive an email with your local prices at a frequency to suit you.
Corporate greed come second only to state greed.
My late brother could never understand the vast price difference. between Diesel and Unleaded