Diesel and gasoline sales in Great Britain almost back to normal

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Pump sales of diesel and gasoline in Great Britain raced back to almost pre-pandemic levels as drivers took to the roads for the long weekend, data from the UK government shows.

But the rally in crude prices has stoked inflation, with gasoline prices selling at an average of £1.2729 per litre ($6.76/gallon), the highest level since August 2019, warns the RAC, a motorist body.

Average daily diesel sales at filling stations in England, Scotland and Wales reached 10,069 litres in the week ending 30 May, up 382 litres week-on-week and their highest since March 2020.

Gasoline sales were up an even more impressive 589 litres on the week to 7,112 litres, also reaching their highest since March 2020.

Gasoline sales were 98% of typical levels before the first lockdown, and diesel sales were at 97%. 

A new daily record for the year 2021 was broken, with diesel sales reaching an average 12,071 litres and gasoline sales reaching 8,629 litres on Friday 28 May, both their highest level since 28 February 2020.

The UK has benefitted from one of the earliest Covid vaccination programmes in the world, with around 75% of the adult population having received a first dose at the time of writing, second only to Israel in terms of major countries.

As a result, the pandemic has largely retreated in recent weeks with no new daily Covid-related deaths registered Tuesday, the first day this has happened in nine months.

Refining margins for Eurobob gasoline at the Rotterdam trading hub remain in contango, with August barge swaps valued at a crack nearly $0.4/b higher than June, according to Quantum data.

Cracks for spot loading barges have taken a slight downturn this week and were assessed at $9.33/b at Wednesday's London close, down $0.28/b on the day and $0.24/b on the week.