Kwarteng asks CMA to urgently review petrol station operators

UK business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has asked the competition watchdog Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to urgently review petrol station operators, reports stated on Sunday (12).

In a letter to the watchdog, Kwarteng wrote that people were “rightly frustrated” that the 5p-a-litre reduction had not stopped prices from soaring to record levels at forecourts.

Kwarteng, in the letter that he later shared on Twitter, has asked the CMA to conduct an urgent review of the fuel market, along with a longer-term study that would examine the health of competition in the market.

He noted regional disparities in petrol prices, and asked for an initial report of recommendations to “strengthen competition” in the petrol market by July 7.

Fuel prices⛽️

I’ve asked the @CMAgovUK to conduct an urgent review of the retail fuel market, as well as a longer-term investigation under the Enterprise Act.

Fuel prices are always quick to go up but slow to come down – let’s see why. pic.twitter.com/iBk8JeNcsF

— Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) June 12, 2022

“Drivers should be getting a fair deal for fuel across the UK,” Kwarteng wrote.

“I am writing to you to ask that the CMA conduct an urgent review of the fuel market … to explore whether the retail fuel market has adversely affected consumer interests.”

The average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts rose by 7p last week, according to data firm Experian Catalist, hitting a new record of 183.2p on Thursday (9). That pushed the cost of filling a typical car over the £100 mark.

Petrol retailers have blamed surging wholesale prices, saying oil refineries had not passed on a fall in the price of crude oil since the highs during the early days of the war in Ukraine.