With the cost of fuel increasing around the world, petrol pumps seem to be hitting new highs.
One filling station in Dublin broke records yesterday when it charged €2 for one litre.
AA Ireland representatives confirmed the price hike for petrol at the Maxol M3 Mulhuddart service station after it officially reached 200 cents per litre.
While fuel costs have been on the up for the last while, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is also having an impact.
This being said, is there a way to avoid paying more for your fuel by going at a certain time of the day?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to predict trends when it comes to the cost of filling up your car.
CEO of Fuels for Ireland, Kevin McPartlan told the Irish Mirror that the pricing is “dynamic”.
“One of the things with our products is that it’s not like gas or electric, where there is a unit price and it has to go the regulator to get changed and it doesn’t get changed very often,” he said.
“If you’re looking for a sliced pan, Dunnes and Supervalu don’t have a price outside the front door in big, illuminated signs. Our products are on big illuminated signs.
“The price is there for everyone to see and that means that the competition on price is exceptionally tight. Margins are tiny on liquid fuels.”
This means that prices change a lot, even a number of times during the day.
McPartlan said: “On the same day, you could go at nine in the morning and find a different price at four in the afternoon.”
So, there is no guarantee that one day will have a cheaper price than another, or that it will be that price the following week.
“It’s responding to a live market, so it’s not about a day of the week or a time of the day.
“They’re responding to the trends as and when they are happening. There’s no predicting what those trends are going to be like,” he said.
However, McPartlan said that some stations may have much more steady prices than others.
“If you think of a very rural service station, it might get a delivery once or twice a week, so their prices are going to be very stable,” he said.
Other stations, such as those off motorways, will get stocked “three or four times a day”.
“The price may change with each delivery. It’s that dynamic,” McPartlan said.
Similarly, there are areas with an influx of stations, which means competition is a big factor.
He said: “We all know those places where you see two service stations where they're within a couple of yards of each other and you can see the two signs as you're driving up so you pick which one you want to go to.”
McPartlan said that “competition couldn’t be fairer” with regards to prices.
Meanwhile on the other hand, according to pumps.ie, customers have reported lower prices at five filling stations across the city of Dublin - and one has the lowest cost nationwide.
As of March 2, the Campus petrol station in East Wall, Dublin 3 is charging just 174.9c per litre of petrol.
Meanwhile, customers noted a cost of 178.9c at Circle K, on South Circular Road, Kilmainham.
On the same date, motorists logged a cost of 179.9c at the Circle K garages on Kimmage Road Lower and Fortfield Rd, Terenure as well as in Top at the KCR on Terenure Rd West.
