Long queues continued to develop at Costco in North Glasgow today, March 31, with many pumps showing empty.
It comes as new figures show the cost of filling a typical family car with diesel has exceeded £100 for the first time in more than three years.
Average diesel prices at UK forecourts on Tuesday were 182.8p per litre, up 40p since the start of the conflict in the Middle East on February 28, the RAC said.
That means it costs £100.52 to fill a 55-litre family car, breaching the £100 mark for the first time since December 2022.
Hundreds queue Glasgow petrol station amid fuel price surge (Image: James Chapelard)
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Many pumps were “out of stock” (Image: James Chapelard)
The average cost of petrol is 152.8p per litre, an increase of 20p since the war began.
Oil prices – which have a significant effect on the cost of wholesale fuel – have soared in response to Iran’s stranglehold on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
We reported earlier this month that queues had started to form amid the conflict.
However, fuel association chiefs have pleaded with the public not to “panic buy” and have insisted that supply is “flowing normally.”
A joint statement from Fuels Industry UK CEO Elizabeth de Jong and the Executive Director of the Petrol Retailers Association, Gordon Balmer, reads: “We are aware of reports circulating about fuel availability at a small number of forecourts for one retailer. Supply across the UK is flowing normally, and there is no need for any change in usual buying habits.”
The AA said the widening price difference helps explain why many drivers were “drawn to the supermarkets” last weekend, which led to “pressure” on their fuel supplies.
(Image: James Chapelard)
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “RAC analysis of wholesale fuel data points towards the price of petrol potentially stabilising if the cost of oil doesn’t increase further, although diesel still looks likely to rise.”
Motoring research charity the RAC Foundation estimated that rises in pump prices have led to motorists paying an additional £544 million for petrol and diesel.
This consists of £409 million for diesel and £135 million for petrol.
The figures are based on average daily increases in pump prices and last year’s fuel consumption rate.
(Image: James Chapelard)
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said at the current rate that fuel prices are rising, the war “will have cost motorists at least a billion pounds at the forecourt within the next couple of weeks”.
The AA said the petrol price gap between supermarket and non-supermarket retailers has widened from 5.4p per litre before the war began to 7.6p per litre.
Diesel has an even bigger disparity at 8.8p per litre.
Trump tells UK to “go get your own oil”
(Image: PA)
Donald Trump said the UK and other countries which did not take part in strikes against Iran should secure the Strait of Hormuz themselves.
The US president said countries which “refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran” should “build up some delayed courage, go to the strait and just take it”.
In the latest sign that his Middle East campaign has severely damaged long-standing relationships, Mr Trump suggested its allies will “have to start learning how to fight for yourself”.
The UK was the only country named in a post by Mr Trump on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Trump wrote: “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.
“Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”
Iran’s selective blockade of the maritime chokepoint and its attacks on the Gulf states have pushed up global energy prices.
In the latest sign of the risk to shipping in the region, a Kuwaiti oil tanker was attacked off the coast of Dubai.
Sir Keir Starmer discussed the situation with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Downing Street.
“They discussed the need for a viable plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in the face of the severe economic impact of prolonged closure, and agreed to work with others to restore freedom of navigation,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
