TheCable

Petrol price in the UK has reached a record high of 148.02p (N808.8) per litre, adding pressure on the pockets of British residents.

Diesel price also rose to 151.57p (N830) a litre — using CBN’s official exchange rate at N416.91/$1.

AA, a British motoring organisation, said this on Sunday, as prices rose above the previous record of 147.72p per litre.

“The cost of living crisis has been ratcheted up yet another notch,” BBC quoted Luke Bosdet of the AA, as saying.

Simon Williams, the RAC’s fuel spokesman, told BBC that the price of filling a 55-litre family car was now an “eye-watering” £81.41 (about N45,800).

In Nigeria, 55-litre of petrol costs barely N9,000 (about £16) as the government continues to pay costly subsidies for citizens to buy gasoline below the international price. 

“With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 (N41,590) a barrel and retailers keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks,” Williams said.

Fuel prices at the pump are driven largely by the wholesale price of energy which has shot up due to tensions over whether Russia will invade Ukraine.

On Monday, oil prices steady above $90 a barrel.

If the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, oil and gas supplies from Russia to Europe may be interrupted, pushing up wholesale prices further.

Experts say the supply of oil and gas has already struggled to keep up with growing demand as the global economy picked up in recent months as Covid restrictions eased.

“On a positive note, retailer margins—which were the reason drivers paid overly high prices in December and January—have now returned to more normal levels of around 7p (N39.54) a litre,” Williams added.

He said the big four supermarkets, which dominate fuel sales, should “play fair” with drivers by keeping their profit margins low.