Antique shop owner Melanie Wilson says she has moved her business closer to home because she was struggling to pay nearly £300 a week on diesel as a result of soaring fuel prices. She opened her new location in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, earlier this month – cutting her commute by 20 miles and her fuel spend in half. Fuel prices in the UK have climbed about 5p in just one week as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with diesel edging towards £1.95 a litre in some areas. Wilson is one of countless people in small rural locations around Scotland who are feeling the pinch as they need their cars for work and everyday life.
Why are petrol and diesel prices rising again? Fuel prices started to climb when the US-Israel war with Iran began on 28 February. The military strikes severely disrupted the production and transportation of energy across the region. Prices fell back when the US and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the fighting in June.
However they have started rising again as tensions resurface, with the price of wholesale oil back above $100 a barrel. More stories from North East Scotland, Orkney and Shetland Listen to news from North East Scotland on BBC Sounds Wilson, 37, lives in Banff, but has now moved her shop location from Insch to Turriff to cut travel costs. She said she spends more than £150 a week on diesel – but it used to be about double that. “I decided to move the shop really just because of the travel,” she said.
“It just wasn’t justifiable driving back and forth every day with the price of fuel. It’s scary. “There’s no other option. I mean, you can dread going to the pump.” Taxi driver Martin Milne, 55, employs 24 people at his business.
With fuel obviously forming a significant part of the company’s running costs, rising prices are putting further pressure on his business. “The last two days the price has risen nine, 10 pence a litre,” he said. “The cost per month now to fill my cars is horrendous. It’s getting more and more every time, you can’t see a way out of this now, it makes it very difficult.
“I would say a monthly fuel would be £6,500, before the Iran conflict it was maybe £5,000.” At 92, Evelyn Grant is still driving. For her, having a car means being able to get out and about independently. However, she too is feeling the impact of higher fuel costs. “Well it’s rather expensive, it certainly makes you wonder if you’ll put your heating on or not,” she said.
“I am definitely having to make those choices. It’ll never come back down – it’s gone up, and it won’t come back down I can guarantee that. “I just don’t go so far with the car now, I just think I can cut back that way. “I can still go out and walk and get the heat up that way.” Driver John Reid, 37, spends a lot of time on the road.
“To keep the truck on the road, it’s quite expensive,” he said. “It’s just the way it is right now, the price is up and down here all the time. “The prices are getting extortionate, that’s the truth about it.” Carer Jared Whitehouse, 42, does a lot of miles in his car, and his bike. He said his costs have gone up drastically.
“Yesterday I came out of Aberdeen and I paid £80 to fill the tank – compared to probably a couple of few years ago where I was paying like closer to £60. “I’ve been doing a lot more riding around on my bike, because it’s just cheaper.” Tyreece Flaws, 25, who works in road haulage, lives in Portsoy and works in Turriff. “It’s quite sore,” he said. “I travel quite far for work, about 25 miles each way, so it’s quite expensive.
“When I pull up at the forecourt I just kind of close my eyes and hope for the best. “I have zero option, I have to drive for work, so I have to fill up. Doesn’t help with the rest of the cost of living, food and stuff. I do worry about money.” Crude oil is a key ingredient in petrol and diesel, which means that higher wholesale costs make filling up a car more expensive.
The price of petrol and diesel is also heavily influenced by demand and refining capacity. Analysts say every $10 (£7.44) per barrel increase in the oil price pushes up pump prices by roughly 7p a litre. Since the war began, the price of a barrel of Brent crude – the global benchmark for wholesale oil prices – has been very volatile. Generally speaking, news of further conflict drives the price up while hopes of an end to the war pushes the price down.
Before the conflict, Brent was about $70 a barrel, but the fighting saw it peak at above $120. In early July, after the framework deal was signed, prices fell back to near the $70 a barrel mark. When the peace talks collapsed, the price climbed back up again to above $100 a barrel. It fell back for a few weeks but is once again over the $100 mark after a fresh escalation in hostilities.
Petrol prices rise by 5p over a week as Iran war sends oil higher
