Just 10% (407) of a sample of more than 4,500 UK forecourts are charging a fair price for petrol and diesel, with the vast majority of these being independently owned sites rather than major fuel retailers.

It’s the smaller independent sites that are prepared to buck the national forecourt trend, according to the RAC

That’s according to new analysis of Experian Catalist price data by the RAC, which continues to urge all retailers to fairly reflect wholesale price of fuel.  

Its research indicates that retailers should be charging nearer to 174p for a litre of unleaded to reflect wholesale prices over the last two weeks; significantly lower than the current average of 188p.  

Yet its analysis of data shows that only 157 petrol stations are selling a litre at between 170.9p and 179.9p. Of these, 125 are independently owned petrol stations, 28 are major supermarket sites and four are owned by oil companies. The remainder – some 4,436 (or 96%) of all the sites sampled – are selling unleaded at 180p or more a litre, way over what the RAC says is reasonable based on the wholesale price.  

It’s a similar picture with diesel, where the current average price of a litre stands at 196p. Taking the average delivered wholesale price over the last fortnight of 150p, plus 7p retailer margin and 20% VAT should give a pump price of around 189p per litre – yet just 250 out of 4,805 forecourts are selling at a price of between 180p and 189.9p. And 192 of these are independently owned, with just 43 being run by major supermarkets and 15 being oil company owned.  

Traditionally the supermarkets have led the fuel market with the cheapest pump prices. At the moment however, the average price of a litre of petrol and diesel at the big four supermarkets is only around a penny lower than the UK average when it’s historically been around 4p.  

While the RAC is still urging all retailers to cut pump prices now to “fairly” reflect six weeks of drops in the wholesale cost, it’s particularly targeting the larger supermarkets that sell the most fuel.  

Fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It appears to be the case that it’s no longer the big four supermarkets that lead on price, but instead smaller independent sites that are prepared to buck the national forecourt trend. Certainly, the days of fuel ‘price wars’ – where the supermarkets simultaneously cut their prices and made a big deal of doing so – appear to be well and truly over. Instead, supermarkets seem to prefer to battle over grocery prices which, while helpful, is ignoring the huge sums households are having to fork out for fuel to keep their cars running. 

“Last month, the cost of filling a typical 55-litre family-sized car with petrol rose by a record £9.12, with diesel just behind at £8.59. For a car that does 40 miles to the gallon, that means it costs a driver around 22p for every mile they drive – up from around 16p at the start of the year. Drivers are desperate for some relief at the pumps yet, with a few notable exceptions, few retailers seem to be willing to price their fuel fairly. 

“Drivers who fill up at supermarket forecourts have every right to feel let down that they are being charged well over the odds for petrol and diesel right now.”   

Number of forecourts selling unleaded petrol at different price points:

Current UK average pump price: 188p
RAC ‘fair pump price average’: 174p