Petrol prices could soar this winter leaving motorists paying £5 more to fill up after deal to slash oil production
The oil production reduction will take place in January
MOTORISTS may have to shell out up to £5 more for a tank of petrol.
A Middle East cartel has signed a rare deal to drive up oil prices.
Analysts fear oil could rise to $60 per barrel, pushing petrol to 123p per litre from 114p now.
The 9p per litre rise would add up to £4.95 a tank, the AA said.
Opec members - who collectively pump a third of the world’s oil - agreed to deliberately limit their output for the first time in eight years in a bid to drive up prices.
It will be the first production drop since the financial crash of 2008 and will push up the cost of oil and prices at the pumps.
The average price of unleaded this week was 114.16p per litre (ppl) — but the OPEC deal could see it move up towards 120ppl.
AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said it would send “a shiver through UK drivers”, particularly as fuel costs surge anyway in winter because of the cold.
He added: “A long spell of higher prices, aggravated by a weak pound, could ravage family budgets as badly as the added cost of winter motoring.”
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Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuelUK Campaign, also warned of rises. He said: “The unregulated and seemingly uncontrollable fuel supply chain will definitely take advantage and put up pump prices in a matter of days.
“They rise overnight but take weeks to go down.”
Last night Brent Crude was worth nearly $52 a barrel, its price soaring close to nine per cent over the day.
Neil Wilson, markets analysts at ETX CAPITAL, said the deal was “likely to keep crude closer to $50 than $40 for now”.
OPEC President Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada said the reduction to 32.5million barrels a day will take effect in January.
The group, which produces about a third of the world’s oil, says the deal will depend on non-Opec members agreeing to cut their output by 600,000 barrels a day.
It was a big boost for oil companies, with ROYAL DUTCH SHELL’s share price closing up 4.3 per cent for the day. BP’s was up 3.8 per cent.