Petrol and diesel prices this week: nine in ten changes were cuts

Pump prices kept edging down over the past week, even though crude oil ended October at a six-month high. FuelWise's figures from the UK Government's Fuel Finder scheme show the typical litre of E10 petrol fell 1.3p in the seven days to this morning, and about nine in every ten price changes at forecourts were cuts.

Diesel is moving far more slowly. It fell just 0.4p in the week and is still close to £2 a litre on average.

What changed at the pumps this week

As of this morning (2 November), the UK average prices across forecourts with a recent price were:

• E10 petrol: 171.7p a litre, down 1.3p in a week and 2.8p in 30 days
• Diesel (B7): 198.4p, down 0.4p in a week and 1.6p in 30 days
• Super unleaded (E5): 188.7p, down 2.1p in a week
• Premium diesel: 217.5p, down 0.9p in a week

Prices did not move on average over the last day.

The latest weekly Price Pulse, for the week to 25 October, recorded petrol down 0.9p and diesel down 0.3p. The seven days to this morning show petrol cuts running a little faster, at 1.3p, while diesel has barely changed pace.

That leaves diesel about 26.7p a litre dearer than E10. For a 55-litre fill, this week's E10 cut is worth about 72p. You can follow both fuels on the petrol prices and diesel prices pages.

Nine in ten price changes were cuts

FuelWise counts every price change that forecourts report. In the past seven days there were 10,174 changes at 5,116 forecourts. Of those, 9,167 were cuts and 1,007 were rises, so about 90% of moves were downwards.

The last 24 hours looked much the same: 326 changes at 206 forecourts, made up of 244 cuts and 82 rises.

So the fall wasn't driven by a handful of sites making big cuts. It came from thousands of forecourts each taking a little off.

Every region fell, but Northern Ireland's diesel stood still

E10 fell in every UK nation and English region over the week, by between 1.0p and 1.4p. London, the South East, the South West, the East of England and Scotland all saw falls of 1.4p.

Diesel cuts were smaller everywhere, at 0.4p or less. In Northern Ireland, the average diesel price didn't change at all over the week. Even so, Northern Ireland is still the cheapest part of the UK for both fuels: E10 averages 164.3p and diesel 190.9p. That E10 price is about 7.4p below the UK average.

At the other end, the South East has the dearest E10, at 173.5p, and the dearest diesel, at 200.1p. Scotland's diesel average is 200p.

The gaps are wider between council areas. The five cheapest areas for E10 are all in Northern Ireland, led by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon at 163.3p. The dearest is West Berkshire at 182.1p, about 18.8p more.

Where the cheaper fuel is

Supermarkets are still cheaper on average than other forecourts:

• E10: 169.5p at supermarkets against 172.2p elsewhere, a gap of about 2.7p
• Diesel: 195.7p against 199.2p, a gap of 3.5p

On a 55-litre diesel fill, that gap comes to almost £2.

Among the brands, Maxol (164.8p) and Circle K (164.9p) have the lowest average E10 prices. Both have relatively few forecourts in the Fuel Finder data. Among the bigger networks, Morrisons and Sainsbury's both average 169.8p, with Texaco and Jet at 169.9p. For diesel, Tesco is lowest of the big names at 195.5p.

Shell (174.5p) and BP (174.1p) have the highest average E10 prices of the larger brands. Motorway services are dearer still, averaging 191.4p for E10 and 216.7p for diesel.

The world behind the prices

The steady cuts at the pumps came during a week of rising oil prices.

Attacks in the Gulf pushed crude higher. On 27 October, Yemen's Houthis said they had hit Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery, which handles 550,000 barrels a day, with a missile. Reuters reported that Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the strike. Brent crude settled at $115.32 a barrel on 28 October, partly on worries that the US could strike Iran after this week's midterm elections. According to Reuters, Brent then settled at almost $118 on Friday 30 October, its highest since April.

Talks over the weekend brought a pullback. Oil fell on Monday morning as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third day of talks aimed at ending the US-Israeli war on Iran. Investing.com reported that January Brent futures were down 3.3% at $109.70 a barrel by 05:27 GMT. It also cited an Axios report that President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday that he preferred to give diplomacy more time before deciding whether to resume military action.

Attacks on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz are still pushing up energy and shipping costs, Reuters reported. The market has not ruled out higher prices: KCM Trade analyst Tim Waterer said tougher rhetoric on Iran after the midterms could push Brent towards $120.

OPEC+ left supply unchanged. On Sunday, seven core OPEC+ members, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, kept their December production targets steady. Reuters reported that most are still pumping well below their targets because of export disruption from the war. The full group meets on 29 November, when analysts expect it to set quotas for 2027.

The pound has firmed slightly. Oil is priced in dollars, so the exchange rate matters to UK drivers. Trading Economics put sterling at $1.3389 on 1 November, up 1.11% over the past month. That makes each dollar barrel slightly cheaper in pounds, but the effect is small next to October's rise in crude.

What it means for drivers

For now, prices at UK pumps are still drifting down. Cuts far outnumber rises, and petrol is coming down faster than diesel. This happened during a week when crude reached its highest level since April, so the cuts may not last. The next few days bring the US midterm elections and the outcome of the Iran talks, both of which oil traders are watching closely.

Until then, the usual advice holds:

• Check before you fill. Average E10 prices range from about 163p to 182p a litre between council areas, so where you buy makes a difference.
• Try a supermarket. They average about 2.7p a litre less for E10 and 3.5p less for diesel than other forecourts.
• Avoid motorway services where you can. They average about 20p a litre more than the UK average for E10 and about 18p more for diesel.

You can see current prices at every forecourt on the live price map and look up your area on the fuel prices by area page.