The Competition and Markets Authority's June 2026 road fuel monitoring update says the recent rise in pump prices was still driven mainly by higher wholesale costs following the conflict in the Middle East. In regulatory terms, that means the CMA has not found evidence that retailers collectively shifted pricing strategy in order to exploit the shock. That finding matters because it draws a line between a market reacting to upstream cost pressure and a market using a geopolitical event as cover for unjustified price increases. The report therefore stops short of alleging crisis profiteering, while keeping close watch on how retailers behave as trading conditions settle.
The CMA nevertheless reports that margins stayed elevated. Where some individual retailers increased margins in March, the authority says this was partly linked to retailers following competitors' price rises, managing supply constraints and inventory pressures, and facing different purchase costs. Even with that explanation, the regulator says average margins across both supermarket and non-supermarket forecourts remained historically high. In April, the average margin reached 11.3 pence per litre, with some retailers recording a further slight increase despite some stabilisation in wholesale costs and stock levels.
The main regulatory point is that the competition concern has not gone away. The CMA says the pattern remains consistent with the weak competitive conditions identified in its 2023 road fuel market study, where retailers were found to rely heavily on passive local pricing rather than competing actively to win business. Put plainly, the issue is not only how much fuel costs retailers to buy. It is also how far forecourts choose to undercut nearby rivals once costs begin to settle. A market in which businesses mostly track one another can keep prices high without any single formal change in strategy.
That is why the authority is focusing closely on pass-through over the coming weeks. The report notes that supply conditions improved in April, with inventory positions recovering and wholesale prices no longer rising at the same pace. If those better upstream conditions are not reflected in lower retail prices, the CMA has indicated that concern about weak competition will deepen. Sarah Cardell, the CMA's chief executive, has framed the message in consumer protection terms: retailers are expected to pass on any easing in wholesale costs quickly and in full. For motorists, the test is straightforward. If underlying costs stop climbing, pump prices should begin to respond.
Fuel Finder now sits at the centre of the CMA's consumer-side response. The regulator says apps and comparison services backed by the scheme can help drivers identify cheaper sites more easily, and estimates that shopping around can save up to £9 on a tank. The policy case is straightforward. Better price transparency gives motorists more scope to switch and puts more pressure on retailers that might otherwise rely on local inertia. The CMA is signalling that stronger consumer comparison, alongside scrutiny of retailer conduct, is part of the route to better price discipline.
The update also repeats an important market split. Supermarkets remained, on average, the cheapest places to buy fuel, while motorway service stations were still the most expensive and charged a substantial premium. That gap matters for households because the ability to act on Fuel Finder data is uneven. Drivers with several nearby options can respond to price differences quickly, but motorway users, commuters and those in less competitive local areas have much less room to switch. In those cases, the strength of competition between retailers matters more than consumer effort alone.
The CMA will publish a further monitoring update in August, covering market developments through to the end of June. That should give a clearer read on whether stabilising wholesale conditions are finally being passed through to forecourt prices. Beyond routine monitoring, the authority has said it will now engage directly with retailers on their pricing strategies across the market, three years after its original 2023 study. The results of that wider assessment are due in the autumn and should indicate whether the Fuel Finder scheme is beginning to shift pricing behaviour across the sector.