Cost of petrol and diesel in Ireland back to pre-pandemic levels

Petrol and diesel prices have climbed for the third successive month, as crude oil prices reached a one-year high earlier this week.

The cost of petrol and diesel in Ireland has returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to the AA's latest fuel price study.

The average cost of a litre of petrol is now 133.8c, up from 129.9c last month.

The cost of diesel has increased at a similar rate climbing to a current average price of 124.9c per litre, up from 120.8c last month.

Petrol and diesel prices have climbed for the third successive month, as crude oil prices reached a one-year high earlier this week.

Among the main drivers for the price increase at the pumps is a noticeable increase in the cost of crude oil beginning in early February which recently resulted in crude oil prices returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Following significant drops in oil prices throughout 2020, crude oil costs have risen from approximately $56 (€46) per barrel in January to over $64 (€53) per barrel currently.

“Oil prices have been steadily climbing since the beginning of February,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs explained.

This, he said, is on the back of “a sense of optimism" that the rollout of Covid vaccines could see global demand start to return to pre-pandemic levels in the months ahead.

“For motorists, this does mean that pump prices have already started to climb and that further increases could be on the way. Generally speaking, it can take up to two weeks for changes in crude oil prices to be accurately reflected at the pumps, so as long as oil continues to climb we should prepare for fuel prices to do the same.” 

The increase means that the cost of both fuels is now at the highest level since March of last year when prices fell dramatically as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Despite this, both fuels remain significantly below the per litre cost seen at the start of last year. In January 2020, the AA’s monthly fuel study found that a litre of petrol cost 144.5c per litre on average, with diesel costing 135.9c per litre.