By Antonia Carter
When we think about the increase in the price of diesel fuel, we tend to only focus on the cost of filling our cars and turn a blind eye to the wider impact it can have. When we consider that most cars owned in the UK run on petrol, diesel is even further from our thoughts. According to the National Travel Survey (NTS) conducted in 2025 by the government, around 57% of cars people owned were petrol, compared with 28% that were diesel.
However, diesel plays a crucial role beyond just our own transport needs. According to the UK government website it is used in other forms of transport such as ships and trains, but also in electricity generators. According to Dr Jonathan Owens, an operations and supply chain expert at the University of Salford the price increase will have a knock-on effect for other essential parts of household budgets, as the rising cost of moving goods will work its way through the supply chain.
Process of diesel extraction
If we think back to our chemistry lessons, diesel is one of the products obtained from crude oil, which is a naturally occurring liquid that can be refined into various fuels and other petroleum-based products through the process of fractionation distillation.
According to the UK government website the UK currently has four major oil refineries located in Fawley, Pembroke, Stanlow and Humber. However, these days, as stated previously, we drive more petrol cars than diesel, and as a result most UK refineries are set up to maximise petrol production rather than diesel.
In the 2000s the UK government incentivised the UK public to use diesel cars because at the time it was felt that because they produce less carbon dioxide per mile, they were considered ‘cleaner’ than petrol. Since that time the UK has been a net importer of diesel and a net exporter of petrol, according to the UK government website.
Reasons for soaring diesel prices
The UK’s sources of diesel have changed significantly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prior to the invasion, Russia supplied around 18% of the UK’s diesel demand. Following the UK’s ban on Russian oil imports in 2022, Britain has had to diversify its supplies.
By 2024, the US had become the UK’s largest individual source of diesel, providing 35.5% of UK diesel imports, while the Netherlands and Belgium provided a further 37%. The conflict involving Iran has disrupted Middle Eastern diesel supplies and has contributed to record high diesel prices, while Britain is now facing uncertainty over continued US diesel exports.
With the upcoming midterm November elections in mind, President Trump has considered banning diesel exports as US voters are also facing high fuel costs. The average U.S. retail price for diesel is $6.382 per gallon for the week ending September 28, 2026, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information. The national average of nearly $6.06 is up from $5.85 last week and almost $3.71 this time last year, according to motor club AAA.
In response to the rising pressure on fuel supplies, G7 countries (which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the USA) agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from emergency reserves and pledged to refrain from imposing energy export restrictions between G7 Countries. The agreement followed pressure from the US president Donald Trump, according to Reuters.
To compound this issue, according to the Independent the UK has relatively little diesel storage compared to some other European countries. The UK has 42 days of Diesel Reserves in July 2026, compared with 398 days in Germany. So, this raises the question: Why can’t we produce more diesel?
According to the UK government, British refiners supplied just 54.9% of the country’s road-diesel demand in 2024, meaning that imports were needed to make up the shortfall. According to ITV news the UK imports nearly 55% of its diesel and the US supplies around 31% of these diesel imports.
So how can we reduce the need for diesel in the UK? There are alternatives for transporting food around the country, such as electric HGVs, rail freight and hydrogen HGVs, but the technologies that would allow the transition away from diesel are still being developed.
Another alternative to importing diesel would be to use our own crude oil from the North Sea and use that to produce diesel. However, this would not solve the problem entirely because UK refineries rely heavily on imported crude that is more suitable for diesel production. As a result, nearly 90% of UK crude oil production was exported in 2024, mainly to the Netherlands, according to the UK government website.
The wars have driven up fuel prices, and so the UK should try to reduce its need for oil and gas where possible.