Motorists face 5p a litre petrol price rise warns AA as first wholesale figures emerge in wake of Saudi attacks

Motorists could face a 5p per litre spike in pump prices after wholesale petrol costs soared in the wake of the drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, the AA has warned.

The drivers’ organisation said the weekend attacks - which sent the oil price as much as 20pc higher on Monday - also pushed up the wholesale cost of petrol by 4.21p a litre, according to industry data.

Including VAT of 20pc, the surge spells an extra 5p a litre at the pumps, if passed on in full by petrol retailers. That would take the average price of a litre of petrol from the current 127.7p to 132.7p a litre, the highest since October 2013.

The AA compared the impact of the attacks to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005, which also pushed up a litre of petrol by 5p before falling away.

Drivers who fill up at supermarket forecourts should be insulated for price rise for longer than independent petrol retailers, who will be forced to pass on the jump in the wholesale price more quickly, according to the AA’s spokesman Luke Bodset.

Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco are engaged in a petrol price war after slashing pump costs by 3p a litre last weekend.

Mr Bodset said: “Non-supermarket forecourts receiving deliveries now will see the cost reflecting the wholesale price and, understandably, put up their pump prices. The fuller impact of any sustained wholesale price increase will take a matter of days to be substantially reflected on the UK average. The supermarkets will take longer to pump up their prices, mainly because they are on longer-term contracts.”

Motorists could gain some respite from the worst of the rises after oil prices fell back yesterday in response to reports that 70pc of the output lost in the attacks on Saudi Arabia could be restored within weeks, which should feed through to lower wholesale petrol prices. The oil price remains more than $4 above the level before the attacks happened however.

The taxman takes the bulk of the revenue from a litre of petrol in fuel duty of 57.95p a litre as well as VAT of 21.3p based on the current 127.7p average price, with wholesale prices and the retailer’s margins making up the remainder.