![\"Middle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/c3af492707df4f5888f3fdddb4d1c3bf.jpeg\")
Diesel pumps not in use at Sainsburys petrol garage in Monkseaton, North Tyneside (Owen Humphreys\/PA) \u00b7 Owen Humphreys <\/p>\nDiesel prices have reached their most expensive level since December 2022, new figures show, as the Iran oil crisis escalates.<\/p>\n
The RAC said the average price of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts on Monday was 181.2p.<\/p>\n
That represents a 27% increase from 142.4p on February 28, the day the war in the Middle East began.<\/p>\n
Average petrol prices have reached 152.0p per litre, a rise of 14% from 132.8p over the same period.<\/p>\n
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: \u201cCompared to the start of the Iran conflict, it costs \u00a310.55 more to fill up a typical family car that runs on petrol, and \u00a321.35 more for a comparative diesel car.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe financial strain on the eight in 10 motorists that tell us they depend on their cars continues to build, and at a particularly rapid rate for those who drive diesel vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 29.2p price difference between diesel and petrol is the largest since at least 2003.<\/p>\n
UK oil refineries are more geared towards producing petrol than diesel, so the country\u2019s supply of the latter is more reliant on imports.<\/p>\n
Oil prices \u2013 which have a significant effect on the cost of wholesale fuel \u2013 have soared in response to Iran\u2019s stranglehold on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Latest DVLA figures show there were 16.2 million diesel vehicles licensed in the UK as of the end of September last year.<\/p>\n
This included the vast majority of light goods vehicles, such as vans.<\/p>\n
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, described diesel as \u201cthe lifeblood of millions of small businesses\u201d and warned that \u201cwhite van man is bleeding cash just to stay on the road\u201d.<\/p>\n
He went on: \u201cWhether you drive or not, soaring diesel prices will take money out of your pocket, either at the pump or in the bills you pay for everything from calling out the plumber to getting a home delivery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf oil prices remain at this level the impact on the forecourt could be felt for weeks, if not months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s bad news for everyone, not just drivers of the UK\u2019s 4.6 million diesel vans, the majority of which will be used for work purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diesel pumps not in use at Sainsburys petrol garage in Monkseaton, North Tyneside (Owen Humphreys\/PA) \u00b7 Owen Humphreys <\/p>\n
There are mounting calls for the Government to abandon the increase in fuel duty planned for September because of the rise in pump prices.<\/p>\n
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her November 2025 budget that the 5p-per-litre cut in fuel duty introduced by the Conservative government in March 2022 would only be extended until the end of August 2026, with rates then gradually returning to March 2022 levels over the next five years.<\/p>\n
AA president Edmund King said: \u201cGovernment can consider what they do with fuel duty in September but, frankly, that is five months away, and arguably industry needs help now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith higher pump prices, the Government has been gaining more in VAT, so there is some \u2018free\u2019 money in the system that could be used to help drivers out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Motorists fill up at the Braywick service station on Windsor Road, Maidenhead (Jonathan Brady\/PA) \u00b7 Jonathan Brady <\/p>\n
Downing Street has insisted forecourts are \u201cwell-stocked nationally\u201d amid reports of pumps running dry in some locations.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the Government was planning for any shortages, the Prime Minister\u2019s spokesman replied: \u201cWe\u2019ll always plan for all eventualities.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cTo be very clear, as the PM (Sir Keir Starmer) has said and as the Government have said, and indeed industry have said, fuel production and imports are continuing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK benefits from diverse and resilient supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cPetrol stations in the UK are well-stocked nationally and any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Diesel prices have reached their most expensive level since December 2022, new figures show, as the Iran oil…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,99984,85,87,46,6807,159487,48353,176374],"class_list":["post-365859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-diesel","tag-il","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-oil-prices","tag-petrol-prices","tag-simon-williams","tag-the-rac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}