Oil price hits new high

Petrol prices rise and are highest in UK

By PH Staff / Wednesday, 22 June 2005 / Loading comments

UK motorists suffer most

Crude oil hit new heights this week, with prices scraping $60 a barrel. Prices at the petrol pump have, as ever when the price goes up, responded fast. And UK prices are, predictably, the highest in Europe.

In Germany, motorists are paying up to 1.235 euros (82p) a litre for petrol and 1.092 euros a litre for diesel. And in the UK, it's up to 86p a litre, which is only just shy of the 86.1p per litre level that it hit in April. Diesel in the UK also hit just under a record high of 89.9p per litre on Friday, which makes it the most expensive in Europe. Prices last attained these levels in mid-April, and peaked at 90p a litre on 15 April.

As Reuters reports, "UK prices still surpass levels that brought the country to a standstill in September 2000, when hauliers and farmers led nationwide fuel blockades and protests, triggered by an average price of 85.3 pence per litre in June of that year."

Oil analysts reckon that there's still a need for more upward price movement in the UK because the retail margin at 4.3p per litre is lower than the 6p per litre they see as the sustainable level for a petrol retailer.