If there’s one topic in the world of 2022 motoring that is making us cringe, it’s fuel. In the year leading up to this summer, the rate of increase in fuel costs was a staggering 9.4%, up by 3% from May. Whilst prices have decreased slightly since early July, they still remain high.The re-opening of businesses has meant that energy demand has soared and suppliers are struggling to keep up.
What’s more, crude oil, a core ingredient in producing fuel, is paid for in US dollars and the value of the pound is pretty weak against that currency. Add to all of this the conflict in Ukraine, and the economic allowances being imposed on Russia by the UK, and we have ourselves a problem.
FairFuel UK is calling for the government to cut fuel prices to a greater extent than the 5% they attempted in March 2022, urging them to follow other countries. Germany, for example, has cut fuel duty by 25p per litre.
Fuel retailers have also been criticised for not passing on all fuel cost reductions to customers, particularly during the cuts in March. The government requested that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigated this.
The focus seems to be on the overall cost of living crisis, with an absence of strategies targeting fuel price rises directly. It is tricky to see how fuel prices can be resolved until compensation for the loss of Russian oil is found.
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