Drivers are being urged not to rush to the pumps as conflict in the Middle East pushes oil prices higher – with industry leaders insisting Britain has plenty of fuel.
Fears of shortages have flared amid the fall-out of the ongoing conflict in Iran and the resulting missile and drone strikes across Israel and Arab nations. The conflagration has seen the price of Brent crude surge by around $9 to $84 a barrel – an increase of 12%. But motoring bodies stress there is no repeat of the 2022 panic-buying chaos – and any rise in pump prices will be gradual, not overnight.
Despite images of queues circulating online, forecourt operators say the situation is under control.
Gordon Balmer, executive director of the Petrol Retailers Association, which represents sites selling about 65% of UK fuel, said Monday had been busy, with sales up 30%.
But, he said: “This is not at the panic-buying stage and certainly not at a point where forecourts are running out of fuel. There’s plenty of fuel in the UK.
“The latest data suggest some people are filling up in anticipation of a pump price increase. We would ask people to continue to buy fuel in their normal buying pattern because any price increases will take time to filter through to the pump.”
Despite the alarm, current forecourt prices still lower than last year According to the latest RAC Fuel Watch, average UK pump prices stand at:
Petrol: 132.86p per litre
Diesel: 142.44p per litre
Motoring organisations echoed the call for calm. RAC head of policy Simon Williams said wholesale fuel costs have been rising “gradually in recent weeks”.
He said: “We really shouldn’t see a shock jump in prices at the pumps … knowing the tendency for price increases to be passed on far more quickly than cuts, on behalf of drivers we urge retailers not to put up the price of fuel they’ve already got in forecourt tanks and reflect any increases in wholesale fuel fairly.”
The AA says petrol remains about 6.5p per litre cheaper than a year ago, making a typical fill-up more than £3.50 cheaper than in early March 2025.
AA president Edmund King said prices would “inevitably increase” in the coming weeks but stressed: “There is no need for drivers to break their refuelling routine.”
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