Rubbish Check
BBC Business · 2 March 2026
source“Petrol and diesel prices hit highest since 2022”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates BBC Business's claim that petrol and diesel prices have "hit highest since 2022" a 2/10 because the RAC figures cited (169.68p petrol, 191.68p diesel) are genuinely the highest since that year while still, as the article itself notes, below the actual 2022 record peaks, a distinction the careful headline wording preserves.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The headline says "highest since 2022," not "record high," and that qualifier does real work: the body confirms diesel is "getting closer to the record high of 199.05p seen in June 2022" rather than exceeding it, and petrol "remains below a peak of 191.5p during the summer of 2022". The headline earns its low score for precision rather than exaggeration; the one deduction is that the causal driver (an Iran-Israel oil shock, not a UK-specific event) is left for paragraph one rather than the headline itself.
What actually happened
UK pump prices have climbed sharply since the summer as the US-Israel war with Iran disrupted Middle East oil supply and pushed wholesale crude back above $100 a barrel. The RAC reports this has pushed average petrol and diesel prices to their highest levels since 2022, though both remain below the record peaks set that year during the Ukraine invasion.
Key facts
- Average petrol price: 169.68p a litre, according to the RAC, while diesel has risen to 191.68p.
- Diesel's 2022 record: 199.05p, seen in June 2022, still not reached.
- Petrol's 2022 peak: 191.5p during the summer of 2022, still below.
- Rapid recent move: "just a few weeks ago in July, the average price of petrol was 150.59p per litre and diesel was 164.52p," having since rebounded.
- Wholesale driver: Brent crude, the global benchmark, was back "above $100 a barrel", and "every $10 per barrel increase in the oil price pushes up pump prices by roughly 7p a litre".
- No evidence of profiteering: the markets regulator said it had "not seen evidence of retailers actively changing their pricing strategies to take advantage of the crisis".
- Policy context: a planned 5p fuel duty rise due in September was postponed until the end of December because of the conflict.
What to watch for
Prices lag wholesale moves by roughly a fortnight, per the article, so the next print will reveal whether the fresh escalation keeps pushing pumps toward the actual 2022 records or whether renewed talks ease crude back down. Watch too for whether the postponed fuel duty rise is extended again given RAC's push to freeze it through the Parliament.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
