The rebound has been fast and nearly complete. Petrol has risen more than 10p a litre — about 7% — since bottoming out at 150.59p on 6 July, taking it to a new high for this crisis and its most expensive level since November 2022. Diesel has climbed harder still, up 15.8p (10%) over the same period, which has almost entirely wiped out June's 16.6p fall — the biggest monthly drop in the RAC's records. Five weeks of relief, undone in four.
Diesel's round trip, in four steps:
- 15 April — peaks at 191.54p, the high point of the crisis.
- June — falls 16.6p across the month, a record monthly drop, as the Strait of Hormuz reopens.
- 9 July — bottoms out, then begins climbing again as oil turns.
- Early August — back over 180p, with 185p forecast within weeks.
Why the two fuels are splitting
This is the part worth paying attention to. RAC analysis of wholesale costs suggests petrol prices at the pump should begin to stabilise this week — the daily climb has already slowed to around 0.12p a litre. Diesel is a different story. Simon Williams, the RAC's head of policy, described the outlook for diesel drivers as worrying and said it looks set to carry on rising, possibly reaching 185p in the next week or so.
The reason comes down to supply rather than sentiment. The UK has fewer refineries than it once did, and those still running are geared more toward petrol than diesel, so a large share of our diesel is imported. When global distillate markets tighten, UK diesel feels it faster and for longer than petrol does. It is the same mechanism that drove diesel 40p higher in a single month in March, and it explains why the gap between the two fuels keeps stretching. We look at this in more depth in why diesel costs more than petrol.
Keep the milestone in proportion: 160.85p is a high for this crisis and the dearest petrol since late 2022, but it remains well below the all-time UK records of 191.5p for petrol (3 July 2022) and 199.09p for diesel (25 June 2022). Diesel at 180p is also still around 11p below its own April peak of 191.54p. Expensive, and unwelcome — but not unprecedented.
What it costs at the pump
For a 55-litre family car, petrol at 160.85p works out at roughly £88 a tank, with diesel around £99. Petrol is now some 28p a litre dearer than it was on the eve of the conflict in late February. And averages hide the extremes: several forecourts around the UK are already charging more than £2 a litre for diesel, which our live tracker shows alongside the cheapest sites nationally.
What this means for you
The advice differs by fuel this week, which is unusual.
- Diesel drivers — fill sooner. With another 5p a litre potentially coming, waiting is likely to cost you. On a 55-litre tank that's nearly £3 for the sake of a few days.
- Petrol drivers — less urgency. If wholesale costs are levelling off as expected, the panic-fill logic doesn't apply. Buy as you normally would and concentrate on where instead of when.
- Check on the day, not from memory. Forecourts pass on rises at very different speeds, so the cheapest site near you three weeks ago may now be among the dearest.
- Avoid motorway services if you can. Routinely 15–20p a litre more, which is £8 or more on a full diesel tank.
The wider pattern is now familiar: this is the third sharp swing in pump prices this year, and each one lands the same lesson. The pump price itself is driven by oil and is entirely outside drivers' control — but the 10 to 20p a litre spread between neighbouring forecourts is not. We explain what sits behind those gaps in why petrol prices differ so much across the same town, and you can follow the national averages on our UK Fuel Price Index.
For context on how quickly this reversed, our earlier reports covered diesel's record monthly fall in June and then petrol nearing its crisis peak in late July — a five-week round trip from record drop to new high.