UK petrol and diesel prices this week: why diesel is still near £2

Diesel is holding just below £2 a litre and petrol has eased a little this week. The falls are small; where you fill up matters more. FuelWise's figures from the Government's Fuel Finder data put standard diesel at an average of 199.3p a litre today, down 0.7p in a week. E10 petrol averages 174.3p, down 0.5p.

Over the past seven days forecourts made 7,735 price cuts and 3,854 rises, with 5,403 forecourts changing their prices. In the last 24 hours, cuts outnumbered rises more than four to one (1,207 to 259). That follows a flat week to 11 October, when FuelWise's Price Pulse recorded petrol up 0.1p and diesel down 0.1p.

Diesel still costs about 25p a litre more than E10. The causes lie largely outside the UK.

How diesel reached £2

The House of Commons Library traces the rise to 28 February 2026, when the US and Israel began strikes on Iran; prices eased after an April ceasefire and climbed again when it collapsed in July. Government weekly figures cited by the Library showed diesel at a record 199.5p on 5 October, above the previous peak of July 2022.

RAC figures had diesel at a record 200.01p on 2 October before it dipped back below £2 on 9 October. Even then, the RAC said, diesel was around 57p a litre dearer than before the conflict and petrol 42p dearer.

Attacks around Hormuz keep Brent above $100

Reuters reported on 15 October that attacks around the Strait of Hormuz had surged over the previous 10 days, with Iran saying it was stepping up strikes in response to the US blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions introduced last month. Maritime officials said a container ship and a dry bulk carrier had sunk near the strait after being hit by projectiles. Yemen's Houthis have also attacked Saudi Aramco's headquarters.

Brent crude was trading at about $105.50 a barrel early on Friday, according to Reuters, which said the Saudi–Houthi conflict and renewed attacks on ships were supporting prices. In its October Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Brent futures had risen 13% since the start of September, while physical North Sea Dated crude had jumped 43% to about $134 a barrel.

The IEA speeds up its emergency diesel release

The IEA said global diesel exports in September were 700,000 barrels a day lower than a year earlier, as losses from Russia and the Middle East were only partly made up elsewhere. Diesel benchmarks have eased from all-time highs above $200 a barrel in September but remain nearly double the price of crude, it said, and supplies are likely to stay tight well into 2027.

On 15 October the IEA Governing Board agreed to accelerate the remaining releases of emergency stocks pledged in March in response to the Hormuz crisis, including more than 20 million barrels of diesel as soon as possible. About 330 million barrels have been released so far, it said, with around 100 million still to come.

Haitong Futures said on Friday, in a note quoted by Reuters, that oil's overnight rise showed investors were dissatisfied, adding: "What would really cool the oil market is an easing of tensions in the Middle East."

Washington's moves on tankers and Russian diesel

The Trump administration is considering easing sanctions on some "shadow fleet" tankers that have carried oil and fuel from countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, to bring down record freight rates, a US official said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Oil fell more than 1% early on Thursday as investors weighed this against the attacks, though Brent closed little changed.

Reuters noted that this came days after President Donald Trump temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian diesel, a move criticised by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, European countries and some Republican senators. The IEA expects little extra supply from Russia: it said the recently announced easing of Russian diesel export restrictions was unlikely to materially change the global balance, because Russia's exports are limited by a lack of working refinery capacity. It also cites Ukrainian drone damage to Russian refineries.

Why diesel costs 25p more than petrol

Duty is the same 52.95p a litre on both fuels, the Commons Library notes; the gap comes from the pre-tax price, with VAT charged on top. Its 6 October briefing put the pre-tax price at 113.3p a litre for diesel against 92.8p for petrol. Diesel comes from the same part of the barrel as heating oil, so demand rises in colder months, and the IEA says this year's supply disruptions have left diesel markets short of stocks ahead of the winter peak.

Where prices are lowest this week

Northern Ireland is the cheapest part of the UK, with E10 averaging 166.8p and diesel 191.7p. Diesel there fell 1.0p this week, the biggest regional drop, and all five council areas with the lowest unleaded prices are in Northern Ireland, led by Ards and North Down at 165.9p. Petrol fell fastest in the North East, down 1.0p to 172.7p.

The South East has the highest regional averages: 176.0p for E10 and 200.7p for diesel. Diesel also averages above 200p in Scotland, London and the South West.

Supermarket forecourts average 171.7p for E10 and 196.5p for diesel, against 175.0p and 200.1p at other forecourts away from motorways. Among the big four, Sainsbury's has the lowest averages, at 171.3p and 195.9p. Motorway services average 191.4p for E10 and 214.7p for diesel, about 17p and 15p above the UK averages. At typical motorway rather than supermarket prices, a 55-litre tank of diesel costs about £10 more.

Duty and the Budget

In May the Treasury extended the 5p-a-litre fuel duty cut to the end of 2026, saying the government "will consider further action if price levels increase significantly". The RAC says that without action, 3p a litre in duty will be added on 1 January and another 2p on 1 March. It says the Government could extend and increase the cut or reduce VAT, and that drivers will be looking to this month's Budget for relief.

What it means for drivers

The IEA warned on 14 October that, as strains in the tanker market spread, delivered diesel prices in importing regions including Europe could rise again in the coming weeks.

• Compare before you fill up. Standard diesel ranges from 174.9p to 234.9p a litre and E10 from 157.9p to 209.9p. The live price map shows what forecourts near you charge.
• Watch the trend on the diesel prices and petrol prices pages.
• On long trips, fill up before joining the motorway.