‘Half my day’s pay goes to filling up my car now’: diesel crisis ripples across Britain

AI desk brief

UK diesel prices are set to hit record highs within days, with average pump prices already up 54% to 196.28p/litre since the Middle East crisis began and some forecourts above £2/litre. The article says the global squeeze stems from refinery outages in Russia and the Middle East, while Brent is still around $100/bbl after a near-3% pullback; the key stress point is refined-product scarcity, not crude, with the European crack spread reported above $100/bbl for the first time.

The inflation impulse is becoming more visible in the UK: consumer inflation is still running at 3.1%, well above the BoE’s 2% target, and the UK now imports about 55% of its road diesel after domestic refining capacity fell sharply. For precious metals, the combination of geopolitical escalation, persistent fuel-driven inflation pressure, and broader supply-chain pass-through is constructive for gold and silver as inflation-hedge assets, even if any further rise in real yields would be a headwind.