The rising cost of petrol at the pumps shows little signs of slowing down, hitting people's pockets harder than ever.
This, along with the sharp rise in energy bills, continues to make day-to-day life more expensive for all. Long gone are the days of petrol for under a pound a litre in the height of lockdown in 2020.
Data firm Experian Catalist reported this week that the average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached a new high of 161.1p, up from 159.6p on Wednesday.
READ MORE: The 15 cheapest petrol stations in and around Manchester
The cost of diesel reached a new high of 170.1p on Thursday, up from 167.4p on Wednesday.
Oil prices have spiked due to concerns over the reliability of supplies since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last month.
In response to this, I drove to some big brand petrol stations in every borough of Greater Manchester from the supermarkets - Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys, and ASDA - to other big chains including ESSO, Texaco, Shell, and BP.
Prices are, of course, subject to rapid change and not every supplier in every borough - but after visiting a cross-section of stations in each of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester, here is what we found, from cheapest, to most expensive.
Cheapest
Salford was the cheapest borough for filling up your car in Greater Manchester. The major supermarkets varied in price with Sainsbury's and ASDA both charging over 160p per litre for diesel.
Prices at some petrol station brands did reach over 170p per litre for diesel but unleaded prices were still below 160p for most.
The average price of diesel in the borough of Salford (from stations visited) was 165.5p per litre with petrol at 157.6p.
Bolton and Oldham were the next boroughs I found with cheaper prices. Oldham had the second cheapest diesel prices while Bolton had the cheapest petrol.
Bolton averaged 166.5p per litre for diesel and 157.2p for unleaded while Oldham averaged 165.7p per litre for diesel and 158.5p for unleaded.
Tameside averaged fourth lowest for both petrol and diesel with the supermarkets charging some of the lowest prices in the borough.
However, non-supermarket big brand petrol stations were charging higher prices, up to 179.9p for diesel. The borough averaged 166.5p per litre for diesel and 158.1p for unleaded.
After this there is quite a bit of variation between prices of petrol and diesel in some boroughs.
Manchester had the third cheapest unleaded on average, at 157.7p per litre, but the seventh most expensive diesel at an average of 167.2p.
Trafford ranked third for average diesel prices, at 166.4p per litre, but sixth for unleaded, at 158.9p.
Bury also had one of the cheapest average diesel prices (fourth) at 166.5p per litre, however, it ranked ninth highest for petrol prices at 159.8p.
Both the ESSO and BP visited in the borough were charging 167.9p per litre of unleaded, pushing up the overall average.
Expensive
There were some very high prices in Rochdale. Once again the supermarket prices were not too high with only Sainsbury's and ASDA charging above 160p per litre for diesel.
However, other branded stations had much higher prices with a Shell garage I visited charging 181.9p per litre for diesel.
The unleaded prices were not too high with the average diesel price in the borough coming in at 168.1p per litre and unleaded at 159p.
Stockport I found to be the second most expensive borough for both petrol and diesel.
Most supermarkets' prices for diesel were above 160p per litre and while non-supermarket stations all charged above 170p for diesel.
This gave Stockport an average of 168.2p per litre for diesel and 159.5p for unleaded.
However, Wigan came out on top for petrol prices in my journey around Greater Manchester.
The supermarkets in Wigan were fairly consistent with prices, with most still charging less than or just over 160p per litre for both diesel and unleaded. However, the non-supermarket suppliers had biggest differences in price.
For example, one BP garage I visited, was charging 194.9p per litre for diesel, and 169.9p for unleaded.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said drivers will be “wondering whether these record rises are ever going to stop”.
He went on: “While prices may well continue to go up in the coming days, oil and wholesale fuel prices dropped for the second day in a row yesterday which should hopefully slow, or even halt, the cycle of escalating pump prices in the next week or so as retailers buy new stock at lower prices.
“There is, however, a concern they will be reluctant to lower their prices for fear of catching a cold if wholesale costs were to jump back up again.
“The oil price drop, which was the biggest since the early stages of the pandemic, was caused by traders becoming less concerned about supply disruption.
“The barrel price fell almost nine US dollars on Thursday from 129.41 dollars to 120.99 dollars having already come down from nearly 138 dollars on Tuesday.”
What the companies had to say
We asked each petrol company used in this story why prices can be different at different stations, even if they are relatively close geographically.
A spokesperson for all, except ASDA, responded.
Morrisons
"In the UK petrol prices vary from town to town and even neighbourhood to neighbourhood and we will always strive to be competitive in each local area.
"Occasionally this can mean price differences between different areas open up. While stores may be relatively close, fuel may come from two different locations with different costs to service them."
Tesco
"We regularly monitor fuel prices throughout a local area to ensure we’re providing competitive prices for our customers.”
Sainsbury's
"The fuel market is extremely competitive and prices are very volatile in the current climate. Prices differ throughout the UK and you will see varying prices even between outlets owned by the same company.
"We want to ensure our petrol stations remain competitive within their local area, offering customers a fair price wherever they live. We therefore adjust the price at each station using locally gathered pricing information."
BP
"There are around 1200 BP branded retail sites in the UK. BP own and operate just over 300 of these. BP sets the pump price at these retail sites we operate, and there we aim to price competitively with other sites in the local area.
"Around 900 of the 1200 BP branded sites are operated by independent dealers to whom we supply fuel and branding. At those sites, the price is decided by the operator, not BP. As such, we’re unable to comment on their prices."
Shell
"Shell is only able to control prices at the sites we own; of our UK network around one half is owned by independent dealers, who set their own prices.
"Shell is prevented by law from telling dealer groups what to charge their customers for fuel."
ESSO
"Fuel prices at Esso branded service stations are set by the owner/operator of the site. Esso Petroleum Company, Limited only sets the prices for fuel at 197 Esso Tesco Alliance service stations (Esso forecourts with a Tesco Express shop) around the UK.
"While we observe prices around Esso Tesco Alliance sites, we determine our prices for fuel at those sites independently taking into account, amongst other factors, changes in product price costs, exchange rates, developments in transportation and site operating costs, etc.
"We recognise that customers are mobile and it's in our interests to keep our prices competitive.
"Fuel prices at the remaining 1,000 Esso-branded service stations, which are owned and operated independently, are set separately by the company that owns and operates each individual site.
"Most of these Esso-branded service stations are owned and operated by MFG, Euro Garages or Rontec."
Texaco
"Valero markets fuel in the UK under the Texaco brand but doesn’t own or operate any Texaco-branded service stations – they are all independently owned and operated."
READ MORE: Inside the farm shop cafe near Manchester named best in the UK with massive breakfasts and burgers
READ MORE: Rochdale man gives birth to baby boy after shock pregnancy
To get the latest email updates from the Manchester Evening News, click here.
