UK fuel retailers forced to share live data on petrol prices
Proactive Investors
Published Jan 16, 2024 08:34
Updated Jan 16, 2024 09:11
UK fuel retailers forced to share live data on petrol prices
Proactive Investors - Petrol retailers will have to share information on pump price changes within half an hour of making them to help drivers find the most cost-effective petrol and diesel under the UK's new 'Pumpwatch' scheme.
Motorists paid an extra £900 million due to this issue, according to a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the sector, which found evidence of 'rocket and feather' pricing, prices rising fast but falling slowly.
The CMA gathered daily fuel price data from the major forecourt players, which include supermarkets Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO), J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY), Asda and Morrisons, and oil giants Shell PLC (LON:SHEL) and BP PLC (LON:BP), as well as the likes of Esso (LON:0N9V), Texaco and Gulf.
Under the new plan from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, fuel retailers will have a legal obligation to share near-live data with local authorities empowered to enforce compliance through financial penalties.
An aggregator will be appointed to manage the data, which will then be freely accessible to price comparison sites.
In part, the new regulations aim to expose disparities in fuel prices across different regions and even within the same retail chains, with the CMA data showing significant price differences across branches of the same supermarket chain in various locations.
The initiative arrives as the average price of a litre of petrol recently dropped to its lowest level since October 2021, while oil prices are stabilising with Brent crude hovering just under $80 a barrel despite international trade disruptions.
Simon Williams, the RAC's fuel spokesperson, said: “Time is critical now. We need this to happen as quickly as possible. Sadly, there have been far too many occasions where drivers have lost out at the pumps when wholesale prices have fallen significantly and those reductions haven’t been passed on quickly enough or fully enough by retailers.”
Read more on Proactive Investors UK
Disclaimer
Get The App
Written By: Proactive Investors
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.