Petrol could hit £1.15 a litre

Petrol prices are set to soar to about £1.15 a litre by the end of summer, experts warned today, bringing misery to many Shropshire businesses and households.

Experts have claimed that a major increase was on the cards and diesel could reach £1.26 a litre before autumn.

The price of fuel has been shooting up in recent months, following a brief period of respite for drivers during winter.

The national average price for a litre of fuel is now more than £1 but that is set to soar with experts believing an increase could be caused by city bankers speculating on the price of oil.

US investment bank Goldman Sachs has raised its oil price forecast for the end of 2009, anticipating falling supply and rising demand. But that actually caused the price of oil to rise by two dollars a barrel, to 67 dollars.

Today Mark Bradshaw, director of Garage Watch, the independent association of petrol retailers, said he was opposed to further increases.

Mr Bradshaw, who was forced to sell his own petrol station in Quatt, said: "I can't see any reason why the prices would rise to that extent. There's been a steady increase for some time, but there's no real shortage.

"A year ago there were reasons for the prices increasing. There were factors like shortages of supply, high demand and unrest around the world."

The Government now rakes in more than £1.4 million a day extra from its latest fuel tax rise.

The average nationwide price for a litre of unleaded fuel was today 100.7p while the average for diesel was 103.9p.

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