LONDON, March 27, 2026, 18:41 GMT
- Asda said some pumps were seeing temporary shortages after fuel demand rose while supplier allocations stayed flat.
- Average UK petrol prices hit 150.11 pence a litre on Friday and diesel reached 177.68 pence.
- Fuel industry groups said national supply remained stable and urged motorists not to change buying habits.
Asda warned on Friday that some of its UK petrol pumps were facing temporary shortages after motorists rushed to fill up and average petrol prices climbed above 150 pence a litre for the first time in nearly two years. The supermarket said the strain reflected a jump in demand as the war involving Iran, the United States and Israel rattled oil markets.
The timing matters. The warning comes just ahead of the Easter getaway, and Asda runs about 800 fuel stations, making it Britain’s second-largest road-fuel retailer after Tesco. RAC data showed average unleaded at 150.11 pence a litre and diesel at 177.68 pence, raising the odds of more local outages if drivers keep topping up early.
Allan Leighton, Asda’s executive chairman, said fuel sales had risen sharply since the war began late last month while supplier allocations had not changed. He said the problem was limited to “the odd pump” at a small number of sites, that no Asda station had fully run out of fuel, and that “supply is tight.” Reuters
Fuels Industry UK chief executive Elizabeth de Jong and Petrol Retailers Association executive director Gordon Balmer told motorists to stick to normal buying habits, saying fuel was still moving normally across the country. PA Media, citing official data, said UK refinery production of petrol exceeded demand in 2025, which helps explain why the disruption so far looks patchy rather than national.
Still, the risk sits upstream. Brent crude traded at $111.52 a barrel on Friday, and Priyanka Sachdeva, an analyst at Phillip Nova, said oil was trading on the likely length of the war rather than on every headline; Macquarie said prices could fall quickly if the conflict eases, but warned they could rise much further if it drags on.
For drivers, the hit is already visible. Simon Williams, RAC’s head of policy, said petrol had crossed the “unwelcome milestone” of 150p a litre before the four-day Easter weekend, and noted that average motorway prices were about 166p for unleaded and 182p for diesel. RAC Media Centre
The squeeze has also revived the row over price gouging. After Britain’s finance ministry met retailers earlier this month over profiteering accusations, Leighton said Asda’s fuel margin would be lower, not higher, and argued that the government was taking more revenue as pump prices rose.
The fuel pressure landed on the same day Asda reported a 33% drop in 2025 core profit to 764 million pounds as it cut prices to regain shoppers. The grocer, Britain’s third-largest after Tesco and Sainsbury’s, said March like-for-like sales — a retail measure that strips out the effect of store openings and closures — turned positive after a weak 2025, but Friday’s disruption shows how quickly an external shock can complicate a turnaround.
