The boss of Asda has warned of “temporary shortages’” at petrol pumps as supplies are squeezed by the conflict in the Middle East, which has driven up average UK petrol prices to above 150p a litre.
Allan Leighton, the executive chair of the supermarket chain, which is the UK’s second largest fuel retailer, said it had been experiencing high demand from drivers as fuel prices have jumped about over the past four weeks since the war started.
“Our fuel volumes are up quite significantly and clearly demand has been outstripping supply. Supply is tight and we are all trying hard on that,” he said.
Leighton stressed that the temporary shortages had only affected “the odd pump” at a small number of Asda’s petrol forecourts if customers arrived when the retailer was waiting for a fuel delivery.
“We can expect to see that continue,” he said. “The spikiness at the moment makes this tricky for us, as spikes can lead to temporary shortages. These are temporary and are addressed very quickly.”
Petrol and diesel prices have climbed significantly since the US and Israel began their campaign against Iran on 28 February. Retaliatory Iranian strikes and Tehran’s effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel, have prevented some production and transport of oil.
On Friday, the average price of petrol in the UK rose above 150p a litre for the first time since May 2024, reaching 150.11p, according to the RAC.
The increase in diesel prices outstripped that of petrol, the average reaching 177.68p a litre, the RAC said.
Before the Iran war started, petrol cost 132.83p a litre on average, while diesel was 142.38p.
This month, Keir Starmer said the government would “step in” if fuel companies tried to take advantage of the situation and “rip off customers”.
Leighton rejected claims that fuel retailers might be “profiteering” from the crisis by raising their prices, adding that Asda’s profit margin was coming under pressure from higher fuel costs.
“People ask where the money is going and the government are getting a lot of money off the back of this,” he said.
The global price of oil moved higher again on Friday, climbing 2.5% to almost $111 a barrel as Donald Trump’s pledge to hold off from striking Iranian energy infrastructure for a further 10 days failed to calm the markets.
The increase in oil prices is likely to keep the cost of petrol and diesel at the pumps higher in the coming weeks.
That is something motorists taking a trip by car this Easter will feel, according to Simon Williams, the RAC’s head of policy.
“With the long-awaited four-day Easter weekend almost within touching distance, the cost of getting away by car is going to be noticeably higher this year,” he said. “Drivers on long journeys will need to plan very carefully where they refuel.”
Queues at some petrol stations in the UK were last seen in September 2021, after a nationwide shortage of HGV drivers left some forecourts without supplies. Motorists waited in line to fill up at some petrol stations in London and Kent as supply interruptions caused outages at some sites, despite there being no shortage of fuel.
