Fuel margins 'far above' historic highs - CMA
Retail fuel margins remain "far above" historic levels, the UK competition watchdog warned on Friday.
26 September 2025 14:25:58
Source: Sharecast
Publishing its latest monitoring report on road fuel, the Competition and Markets Authority said higher oil prices had pushed up prices at the pump.
The average cost of petrol rose to 133.9p per litre in the three months to August end, a rise of 1.9p per litre. Diesel prices also increased, by 3.5p per litre to 141.9p.
The CMA said: "These changes reflect, in part, changing oil prices and refining spreads, both of which are driven by global factors."
However, Dan Turnbull, senior director of markets at the CMA, added: "What’s deeply concerning is that fuel margins - a key indicator of retailer profit - remain far above historic levels."
From April to June 2025, margins increased for supermarket retailers to between 8% and 9.1%, compared to the previous three months.
That remains far above historic levels. Supermarket fuel margins were just 4% in 2017, the CMA noted, but had reached 8.4% by the first half of 2025.
Other retailers’ margins were also higher than historic norms, at between 9.9% and 10.6%. In 2017, the average margin was 6.4%.
The report did not, however, consider changes in operating costs during the last three months.
These will be assessed in the CMA’s next monitoring report, which is due to be published at the end of year.
"This will assess whether changes in costs are impacting fuel margins for large retailers," the body noted.
The CMA first started investigating the road fuel market in 2023, after prices rocketed on the back of soaring crude prices and moves by oil cartel Opec to cut production.
In response, it recommended regular monitoring as well as launching a Fuel Finder scheme, which would allow drives to compare real-time pump prices.
Turnbull said the scheme - which is expected to launch by the end of this year - would "push retailers to be more competitive as drivers are empowered with real-time pricing rata, making shopping around easier".