10th September 2026
With fast moving oil prices we have updated from $100 to $102 at 10.00am today.
The price of oil breaking through $102 a barrel is no longer just a story for financial markets. Motorists in Caithness are already seeing the consequences at the pumps, with petrol and diesel prices continuing to climb.
The latest figures show a striking variation between forecourts, particularly in Thurso.
Some Thurso motorists can find petrol at around 168.5p a litre, while other stations are charging close to 178p. Diesel is already around 189p to 195p a litre at some local forecourts.
In Wick, recent figures have shown petrol available for around 163p a litre at Tesco, with diesel around 189p, although pump prices can change quickly.
That means choosing where to fill up can make a surprisingly large difference. For a 60-litre tank, paying 178p rather than 168.5p for petrol adds about £5.70 to a single fill-up. It may not sound much, but for someone filling the tank regularly the difference soon mounts up.
And the worst may not have arrived yet
The problem for motorists is that petrol and diesel prices do not always immediately reflect movements in crude oil. Forecourts buy refined fuel at wholesale prices, and there is normally a delay before changes in the oil market fully work their way through to the pump.
The RAC has warned that wholesale fuel costs have not necessarily yet absorbed the full impact of the latest oil-price surge. That means even if Brent crude stayed around $100 a barrel, motorists could still see further increases over the coming weeks. And if oil moves towards $105, $110 or higher, the pressure will become greater.
There is another reason diesel deserves particular attention. Diesel is heavily used by lorries, vans, buses, agricultural machinery and construction equipment. Higher diesel prices therefore eventually feed into the cost of transporting goods and providing services.
The impact can reach much further than the filling station. A lorry delivering food to a Caithness supermarket costs more to run. A tradesman's van costs more to operate. Farmers face higher machinery costs. Businesses transporting materials around the Highlands face another increase in their overheads.
Eventually, some of those costs are passed on to customers.
Watch £1.70 petrol and £2 diesel
The next psychological barriers for motorists may therefore be £1.70 a litre for petrol and £2 for diesel. Some Caithness motorists are already close to them.
Then, sometimes weeks or months later, the higher transport and energy costs begin appearing in the prices of other goods and services.
So when motorists look at the price on the forecourt today, they should remember that it may not yet be the full cost of the oil shock.
$100 oil has arrived. The bill for it is still working its way through the economy.