Three tax rises are set to affect the price of unleaded, beginning with a 2.35p increase in fuel duty which comes into force on 1
October. According to the AA, when combined with the rate rise from December last year, the new cost of petrol means an average two-car family will be more than £100 a year worse off.
However, the October rise is just the first of three scheduled increases. A further 2.35p is due to be added next April, with another 2.11p rise slated for April 2009. The current average price of a litre unleaded is 95.2p.
The escalations are necessary because of fluctuations in the prices of a barrel of oil. When the Chancellor calculated the duty to be imposed on petrol, oil was priced at $57 a barrel. Thanks to volatility in oil-producing markets and some particularly nasty weather causing oil-rigs to close for safety reasons, the price of a barrel is now around $83 today.
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