Plummeting Pound Pushes Up Price of Petrol

The falling pound and stock market speculators are driving up the cost of petrol, according to the AA. The price of petrol at the pumps has gone up a further 1p in the last five days. The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has said that he has “taken action.” There are a variety of factors resulting in the surging cost of fuel. Paradoxically it might be one of the things the Bank of England is doing to try and stimulate the economy, which is partly to blame.

The pound has lost about a tenth of its value against the US dollar since last spring. Oil is priced in US dollars, so that means it is more expensive for us Brits to buy it. At the same time the actual price of oil has risen sharply in the first six weeks of this year, which is partly to do with Middle East unrest and problems in Iran.

That has been building up into wholesale prices which are yet to feed through to the forecourts, which means more pressure yet to come for the companies that rely upon the usage of fuel, like haulage companies and also hard-pressed motorists.

The AA says the average cost of petrol is now 138.32p a litre. Diesel has risen 4.78p from its mid-January price to stand at an average of 145.10p. The latest figures show that petrol has risen 6.24p a litre since early January, adding £3.12 to the cost of refilling a typical 50-litre tank.

What do you think? Is the price of fuel getting out-of-hand? Sound off in the comments section below!