Petrol prices fall 1.3p in a week as Saudi refinery attacks lift oil

Pump prices across the UK kept edging down this week, even as the oil market moved the other way. Petrol averaged 172.2p a litre this morning, 1.3p cheaper than a week ago. Diesel averaged 198.6p, down 0.4p. Brent crude, meanwhile, was heading for its fourth monthly rise in a row after Yemen's Houthis said they had attacked Saudi oil sites.

For drivers, the gap between those two trends is the thing to watch.

What FuelWise's figures show this week

Across 6,908 forecourts with a recent price, the average for standard unleaded (E10) is 172.2p, 2.4p lower than 30 days ago. Diesel is down 1.6p over the same 30 days, to an average of 198.6p across 6,533 forecourts.

Super unleaded (E5) has fallen furthest. It averages 189p, down 2.1p in a week and 4.5p in a month.

The direction of individual price changes is clear. In the last seven days FuelWise recorded 10,382 price changes at 4,925 forecourts: 9,200 were cuts and 1,182 were rises, so roughly nine in ten changes went down. In the last 24 hours there were 1,708 cuts and 144 rises.

Diesel is lagging. Its weekly fall of 0.4p is less than a third of petrol's, and it is still about 26p a litre dearer than E10 on average. Our diesel prices page shows the latest figures near you, and the petrol prices page does the same for unleaded. Last week's Price Pulse recorded petrol down 0.9p and diesel down 0.3p in the week to 25 October, so this week's petrol cut is a little faster.

Oil heads for its steepest monthly rise since July

The world picture is less comforting. Reuters reported early on Friday 30 October that Brent crude futures had risen 86 cents to $115.74 a barrel, and that Brent was on course to finish October nearly 14% higher. That would be a fourth straight monthly gain and the steepest since July. US crude (WTI) was heading for a 15% monthly rise and its first month-end close above $100 since April.

The immediate trigger was the Gulf. According to the same Reuters report, published by The Edge Malaysia, the Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked several sites in Saudi Arabia, including the Ras Tanura refinery, the kingdom's largest, the Rabigh refinery and an Aramco facility in Abqaiq. A Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi cruise missile. Earlier in the week, Reuters noted, Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed a claimed Houthi strike on the 550,000-barrel-a-day Ras Tanura refinery.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards also said three tankers hit sea mines, exploded and caught fire while trying to use an unauthorised route south of the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported. Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee, told Reuters that "continued kinetic action around the Strait of Hormuz" was keeping oil prices high.

Diplomacy pulls the other way

On Thursday, Brent fell $1.22, or 1.1%, to $114.10 early on Thursday, according to Reuters, after the Wall Street Journal reported that US Vice President JD Vance had written to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei to try to revive peace negotiations.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vance had reached out to Iran to help the country get medical supplies, Reuters reported. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said Tehran had received the letter but not yet replied, and that it wants the US to meet its conditions.

Reuters also reported that Qatari mediators had presented Iran with a new draft deal to end the war with the US and Israel, which a senior Iranian official dismissed. Traders were weighing fears that the US could strike Iran after its midterm elections on 3 November, which limited the fall.

Two other factors weighed on prices this week, according to Reuters:

• Russian refining. JPMorgan analysts said Russian refinery runs rebounded by 350,000 barrels a day last week to 4 million barrels a day, with no confirmed attacks on Russian refineries since 15 October. More refining capacity matters for diesel supply.
• US stocks. The US Energy Information Administration said US crude stocks fell 1.9 million barrels in the week to 23 October, but petrol stocks rose 3.9 million barrels, against expectations of a draw.

OPEC+ meets on Sunday

The next scheduled event is an online meeting of seven core OPEC+ members on Sunday. Three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on 27 October that the group is likely to keep its production targets for December unchanged, though no final decision had been made. Reuters noted that Gulf members have been increasing exports disrupted by the Iran war, but most are still pumping well below their targets.

FuelWise's figures show retailers are still cutting for now. But oil has risen this month rather than fallen, so drivers should not assume the run of cuts will continue.

Where to find the cheapest fuel today

Supermarkets. Supermarket forecourts average 170p for E10 and 195.8p for diesel, against 172.7p and 199.4p at other non-motorway forecourts. Morrisons has the lowest E10 average of the big four at 170.2p, and Tesco the lowest diesel at 195.7p. BP (174.7p) and Shell (175.3p) have the highest E10 averages of the large brands. See all brands on our brands page.

Avoid motorways if you can. Motorway services average 191.9p for E10 and 216.9p for diesel. Filling a 55-litre tank with E10 at the motorway average rather than the supermarket average costs about £12 more.

Northern Ireland remains cheapest. The region averages 164.5p for E10 and 190.9p for diesel, the lowest in the UK. All five of the cheapest council areas for unleaded are there, led by Causeway Coast and Glens at 163.7p. See our Northern Ireland fuel prices page.

In Great Britain, the North East has the lowest E10 average at 170.6p and also the lowest diesel at 198p, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at 171p for E10. The South East is the dearest region for both, at 174.1p for E10 and 200.3p for diesel. West Berkshire has the highest council-area average for unleaded, at 182.1p.

Check E5 is worth it. Super unleaded averages 189p, about 17p more than E10. See our E5 prices page.

The bottom line

Pump prices fell again this week, led by petrol. But Brent is on track for a near-14% rise in October, and Sunday's OPEC+ meeting and next week's US midterms are the next events the oil market is watching. For now, the surest way to pay less is to compare prices on the live map before you set off.