UK motorists now pay more than £6 a gallon for unleaded petrol

Saturday, 21 January 2012 11:19

The AA has issued its fuel price report for January 2012 which reveals that the average price of unleaded petrol is now 133.5 pence per litre (ppl) and for diesel it is 141.9.

The average cost of a gallon of unleaded petrol now comes in at £6.07 a gallon and for diesel it is £6.45 a gallon. oil now costs on average $111 a barrel.

A massive 60.1 per cent of the cost of unleaded petrol goes to the government as tax. The figure is 57.5 per cent for diesel.

Petrol prices have been increasing in the early weeks of 2012 with the average cost of petrol above 130p a litre and diesel costing more than 140p a litre since last July.

The gap between petrol and diesel prices in the UK has fallen to just eight ppl as the rise in unleaded petrol has outpaced the rise in diesel.

The average price of unleaded petrol at supermarkets is 131.8 pence, the difference between supermarket and other petrol station prices for unleaded has risen to 1.7 ppl.

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There are regional variations in the UK, with Northern Ireland seeing the highest cost for unleaded petrol at 134.6. Northern England recorded the lowest average at 132.4 ppl.

Northern Ireland also has the highest average cost for diesel at 142.8 ppl, with Humberside seeing the lowest UK average at 141.2 ppl.

Across Europe, the UK has the eighth highest unleaded petrol price in Europe at 133.5 ppl. The Netherlands pat the most at 146.4 and Bulgaria pays the lowest in Europe at just 104.2 ppl. The United States which historically has had lower petrol prices charges an average of just 58 ppl.

The UK has the third highest diesel costs in Europe at 141.9 ppl. Sweden tops the list at 142.5. By contrast, motorists in Luxembourg pay just 105.4.

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