Prices at the pump have been slowly falling, and market conditions are indicating a continued fall into early 2025, according to research by Allstar.
Allstar’s latest edition of its AllCosts report takes proprietary data for many millions of transactions throughout the Allstar fuel card network in the quarter January-March 2024 to provide businesses with real-life costs for vehicles on-the-road today.
Transaction data from the EV, fuel and expense payment company has revealed that petrol prices at the pump were down 7.26p to an average 143.34p with diesel down by 6.1p to 158.5p.
Prices are dictated, at least in part, by the price of Brent Crude oil, which has fallen materially since a peak following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a forecast from the US Energy Information Administration for stability throughout the rest of 2024 as supply and demand balance each other out. This could continue as far as into 2025, Allstar predicts.
However Allstar found there are still some significant regional variations in the price of petrol and diesel.
Allstar’s data splits the UK into more than 100 areas with Dumfriesshire on the Scottish/English border often the most expensive, and Antrim in Northern Ireland often the cheapest, potentially as it needs to compete with lower prices across the border in the Republic of Ireland.
Despite a generally low cost, there is a significant difference between the lowest and highest prices for diesel, equating to more than £15 for filling up a 70-litre tank, demonstrating that shopping around is still important to reduce fleet costs.
Paul Holland, managing director for UK/ANZ Fleet at Corpay, including UK brand, Allstar, said: “The prices of both petrol and diesel have been slowly falling and are expected to remain steady for the rest of the year as supply and demand balance each other out, meaning those behind the wheel can breathe a sigh of relief.
“That being said, there is no crystal ball that could have predicted some of the shock geopolitical events the world has seen. Yet, the prices we pay at the forecourt are sensitive to them and will fluctuate again if there is another surprise on the horizon.
“My best advice is to keep an eye on what is going on globally and offset costs where possible if they do make a surprise hike.”
This comes as the new Labour government has recently pledged to reinstate the 2030 petrol and diesel ban, after it had been pushed back to 2035.
Fleets are leading the way in electric vehicle (EV) adoption, Allstar research has found, with public chargers being used by Allstar customers increasing 264% - more than twice as much than the same period 12 months ago, in March 2023. Similarly, electric business drivers are plugging in 113% more from their own homes.
