01/12/2016
While fuel duty was frozen again by the Chancellor during his Autumn Statement last week, motorists are set to be hit by sharp rise in fuel prices in the run up to Christmas following an agreement to limit output by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
The new agreement will see motorists faced with paying £5 more to fill up an average family car after Opec, which pumps a third of the world’s oil, agreed to limit output for the first time in eight years.
The rise in oil costs is set to provide an unwelcome Christmas present for businesses by sharply pushing up prices on the forecourt. It is expected that the price of fuel is set to rise as much as 9p a litre after VAT. The change will take the present average price of £1.14 a litre of petrol to £1.23, which is equivalent to £4.95 added to the price of filling a 55 litre car.
The rise in costs comes at time in the year when most vehicles normally use more fuel due to the colder weather. The lower temperatures often mean vehicles do not run as efficiently with cold engines using more fuel. This is also combined with the higher demands on power for heaters, lights and windscreen wipers, increasing overall fuel consumption.
Industry spokespeople have predicted the rises in the wholesale cost will be felt on the forecourts during the next two weeks. However, all eyes will be on what will happen in long term and whether the prices will continue to rise into 2017 and beyond.
By switching to supermarket fuel providers businesses could be making a significant saving on monthly fuel costs. On average supermarket fuel prices are approximately 3p* per litre cheaper than the average national forecourt cost, and also considerably less than motorway fuel station prices where prices can be vastly more expensive per litre.
The fuelGenie fuel cards provide business drivers with everyday value pump prices at over 1,250 conveniently located Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons forecourts nationwide. fuelGenie does not charge fees or hidden surcharges and offers unlimited free cards with no minimum monthly spend.
