Where is fuel cheapest in the UK?

All regions: petrol and diesel prices

Ranked cheapest first by petrol average. Calculated from city-level daily averages across our station database. National average: petrol 159.4p · diesel 183.9p.

Why do regional prices differ?

Several structural factors produce consistent regional price variation across the UK. The most significant is supply chain distance from major oil terminals and refineries. The UK's primary refining and import infrastructure is concentrated in a relatively small number of locations: the Thames Estuary, Milford Haven in Wales, the Humber, Grangemouth in Scotland, and a few others. Fuel has to be transported from these terminals to local fuel depots and then to individual forecourts. The further a station is from a major terminal, the higher the delivered cost of each litre, and this is typically passed on to the consumer.

Competition density is the second major factor. Urban areas with a high concentration of supermarket forecourts tend to have lower average prices because operators compete aggressively for footfall. Rural areas and remote communities often have fewer stations within a reasonable drive. Where there is less competition, retailers have more pricing power. A driver in a rural area who has no realistic alternative to the local station will pay more for that convenience. This effect is most pronounced in parts of rural Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, where some communities are served by a single forecourt.

Regional cost structures also differ. Rent and rates for forecourt land vary significantly between city centre sites and rural locations. Staff costs, business rates, and local commercial property values all feed into the operating cost of a forecourt and influence the margin needed to sustain the business. These effects are smaller than supply chain distance and competition, but they contribute to the pattern.

Motorway exposure has a localised effect within regions. Areas with a high proportion of motorway-adjacent stations (where captive demand allows significantly higher margins) will pull the regional average upwards. Similarly, regions with a high share of supermarket forecourts (which run on lower margins) will show lower averages than their supply chain position alone would predict.

How the regional gap affects you

If you fill up a 50-litre tank once a week, a 4p/litre regional difference amounts to £2 per fill, or roughly £100 per year. At a 6p/litre gap, the annual difference reaches £156. These are meaningful sums, but the regional average masks significant variation within each region. A driver in a rural part of an otherwise average-priced region may consistently pay more than a driver in a well-served urban area of a typically expensive region.

The practical implication is that regional averages are useful for understanding the structural landscape, but the most important comparison is between specific stations in your immediate area. Checking prices at the three or four stations closest to your home or regular commute, and noting which is consistently cheapest, will save more money than any regional pattern suggests.