Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that oil price reductions are fully passed on to customers.

Andrea Leadsom

The Government believes that it is important that consumers get a fair deal and any falls in oil prices are passed on to lower prices for consumers. We have made this clear to energy providers.

DECC continuously monitors pump prices, and publish average prices of petrol and diesel every Monday. Movements in pump prices are primarily driven by changes to crude oil prices; though pump prices are also influenced by a range of other factors, including refining capacity, stock levels, distribution costs and retail margins.

Analysis by the Department has found that crude price changes are being reflected in pump prices and suggests that on average, at a national level, sustained crude price changes are fully passed through into pump prices within 6-7 weeks; though much of the change is passed through earlier.