Gasoline prices are likely to fall back from record levels on wholesale fuel costs and global oil price easing, British automakers said.
The average price of a liter of petrol hit £1.63 on Sunday after rising above £1.60 for the first time last week.
Diesel stayed above £1.73 a liter but the AA said “wild” pump prices should stabilize unless global oil prices pick up again.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent oil prices skyrocketing around the world.
Filling up a typical 55-litre car tank now costs an average of £89.90, up from £68.57 a year ago, according to the AA.
Oil prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the price of Brent crude – the global benchmark for prices – at times hitting a near 14-year high.
However, oil prices have fallen in recent days as fears that the European Union could follow the US and Canada in banning Russian oil have eased.
Brent crude fell 3% to $109 a barrel early Monday.
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The RAC said drivers were likely to face further increases this week, but added that they should “soon be getting a break from pump prices, which are rising by several pence a liter every day, as oil and wholesale prices appear to be stabilising to have”.
“The price increases seen over the weekend are still the result of the rise in oil prices that started earlier in the month and peaked at $137 a barrel early last week,” said RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams.
“Now that the price of oil has fallen back, hopefully we should top out and start to see prices go the other way to reflect the large drop in wholesale costs seen late last week, barring any further spikes in barrel prices this week.”
The reason higher prices at the pump are likely to remain despite falling commodity prices is the way retailers buy the fuel and the time lag between buying it at a certain price and then selling it on.
However, there is concern that some retailers may be reluctant to lower their prices for fear of being caught if wholesale costs spike again.
Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel prices spokesman, said a 10.6 Pa-litre slump in wholesale petrol prices on Wednesday and Thursday last week, followed by a drop in the value of oil, has created “bizarre price anomalies”.
“In one town this weekend, filling up a tank in one forecourt was more than a pound cheaper than directly across from another,” he said.
Mr Bosdet said weekends are the busiest time for petrol stations and drivers’ rush to beat further potential price hikes has increased demand, which has actually resulted in even higher prices at pumps as petrol stations have to resupply faster.
Oil prices are mainly determined by the price of crude oil and the dollar exchange rate since agreements are made in dollars.
Russia is the third largest oil exporter and some Western countries, such as the US and Canada, have decided to halt imports from the country in response to Russia’s actions. This means that demand for oil from other producers has increased, resulting in higher prices.
The UK imports only about 6% of Russia’s oil, so is not as dependent on Russia for raw materials as other European countries and has announced plans to phase it out.
However, it is affected by the global price shifts.
But the price of Brent crude fell in recent days on reduced fears of a European ban on Russian oil and in part on speculation that additional supplies from Iran, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates could hit the market.
The conflict in Ukraine has prompted Western nations to express concerns about where they get their energy from.
Energy Secretary Greg Hands said Britain’s transition to cleaner forms of energy production was “a matter of national security” and not just decarbonisation.
Speaking at an event in London, he said: “By switching to cheaper UK electricity for the UK, we ensure we are not dependent on an unfriendly foreign country to keep our homes warm and lit.”
However, Mr Hands acknowledged that the transition to cleaner energy sources would take time and continued investment in domestic fossil fuel production.
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