Why do motorists in Northern Ireland pay 5.6p less for a liter of petrol than motorists in the rest of Britain?

Motorists in Northern Ireland are getting a much better deal at the pump than motorists in the rest of Britain, according to the latest revision to fuel prices.

And that price difference increased in February.

On average, car owners in Northern Ireland pay 5.6 cents less for a liter of petrol, and diesel is around 4.6 cents cheaper than in England, Scotland and Wales.

The RAC described it as ‘particularly annoying’ for motorists in Britain as it reported that February saw the biggest rise in fuel prices in five months, with petrol rising by 4 pence per liter and diesel by almost 5 pence.

A combination of oil rising above $80 and the pound being worth just $1.26 (with oil trading in dollars) pushed up wholesale costs for UK fuel retailers – costs that were quickly passed on to drivers with higher pump prices.

The news comes ahead of Wednesday’s Spring Budget statement, in which Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to provide some relief to the country’s motorists by freezing fuel duty for the fourteenth year in a row and introducing the ‘temporary’ 5p per year tax cut liters on petrol and diesel. which was introduced in 2022 to neutralize escalating fuel prices.

According to the RAC’s monthly Fuel Watch report, the price of petrol has risen from 140.75 cents in early February to 144.76 cents at the end of February, adding more than £2 to the price of a full tank (£77.41 to £79 ,62).

Diesel rose from 148.53p to 153.22p (4.7p), increasing the cost of refueling an average 55-litre family car by £2.60 to £84.27.

It’s the largest monthly increase for either fuel since September, but still well below all-time highs for either fuel.

In summer 2022, the cost of a liter of unleaded petrol peaked at 191.43p in July, while diesel reached a record 199.07p.

Why do motorists in Northern Ireland get a better deal on fuel?

The RAC has noted the easing of regional fuel prices, particularly when comparing Northern Ireland with the rest of Great Britain.

Price data shows that motorists in Northern Ireland pay on average 5.6 pence less for petrol than in the rest of the country, while diesel is 4.6 pence cheaper.

It means that every time a driver in Northern Ireland fills up their family car (with a 55 liter fuel tank), they pay £3.20 less than motorists across the Irish Sea.

For those with a diesel car, the price difference in favor of drivers in Northern Ireland is £2.53 per fill-up.

Simon Williams, RAC spokesperson for fuel prices, told This is Money: ‘We estimate that retailers in Northern Ireland are operating on a margin of 6p per liter for both petrol and diesel.

‘The average margin for the rest of Britain is around 10 cents, which explains some of the large difference in pump prices.’

The automotive association believes that operators across the Irish Sea are pocketing smaller margins because competition is much fiercer there.

“Northern Ireland has more retailers per driver than the rest of Britain, and supermarkets are less dominant,” Williams explains.

‘You also have to take into account the presence of the Republic of Ireland, which can sometimes be a bit cheaper and will then force prices down across the border.’

The RAC says fuel has historically been cheaper in Northern Ireland for some time, but argues there is no reason why lower prices there cannot be replicated in the rest of Britain.

‘After analyzing Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) data, we can see that supermarkets offer their lowest prices most of the time in Northern Ireland, so they have the capacity to take smaller margins than they do on average in Northern Ireland. the whole country. Britain,” Williams added.

Do supermarkets play fair with drivers? There is a difference of 18 cents per liter between Asda’s cheapest and most expensive petrol stations

The motoring group says motorists across Britain are still getting the best deal by filling up at petrol stations operated by the big four supermarket chains.

Unleaded is just under 2 cents (1.8p) cheaper if you buy it from a supermarket petrol station (143p versus 144.76p), although diesel is only a cent cheaper (152.1p versus 153.22p) .

It also highlights that there is a difference of 18 pence per liter between the supermarkets selling the lowest and highest priced unleaded products, both of which are Asda locations.

The lowest price was 136.7p at sites in Middleton, Leeds and Ballyclare, north of Belfast in Northern Ireland, and the most expensive was 163.9p on Parkgate Road in Chester.

For diesel, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive supermarket squares is larger: 21 cents.

Tesco offered drivers the lowest price at 142.9p in Banbridge in Northern Ireland and Asda had the most expensive at 163.9p, again on Parkgate Road in Chester.

Williams said: ‘Our data shows that drivers experienced the highest monthly average fuel price increases in February since September 2023.

‘In addition, the 4.7p increase for diesel was the 14th largest increase since the year 2000, and the 4p increase for petrol was the 17th largest increase since the turn of the century.’

The RAC fuel expert added: ‘Supermarkets in particular have now noticeably increased their margins to 8 cents per litre, compared to 6 cents in 2019. Fortunately for drivers, this is lower than the past two years, when it was around 9. 5 cents.

‘We hope that the eventual introduction of the regulatory body recommended by the Competition and Markets Authority will help put an end to this postcode lottery, which treats motorists so unfairly.’

Drivers across the country will welcome the Chancellor’s announcement in tomorrow’s Budget on taxing fuel costs.

Jeremy Hunt is expected to freeze fuel duty for a fourteenth consecutive year – and extend the ‘temporary’ 5p cut in fuel duty for another year as he tries to calm Tory jitters over poor polling.

It is estimated that this will save drivers a collective £5 billion over the next twelve months.