Growing oil refining margins are one of the main causes of soaring fuel prices, according to the competition regulator. A review by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the increase from the crude oil price when it enters refineries to the wholesale price when it leaves them as petrol or diesel has more than tripled in the last year, from 10p per litre to nearly 35p per litre.
It said that retailers’ margins “remained about 10p per litre on average” over the same period. The CMA also attributed record fuel prices to an increase in the cost of crude oil.
On the issue of whether the 5p-per-litre reduction in fuel duty introduced in March was passed on to drivers, the regulator said: “On the whole the fuel duty cut appears to have been implemented, with the largest fuel retailers doing so immediately and others more gradually.”
