Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Petrol hits new record as oil prices surge to highest level since 2008

Barrels of oil against the background of American dollars.
The north-east economy has been inextricably linked to the price of a barrel of oil for decades. Image: Shutterstock

Petrol prices have hit a new record at the pumps and oil prices are at their highest level in 14 years.

Figures from data firm Experian Catalist show the average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts on Sunday was 155.62p, up from 155.05p on Saturday.

The average cost of a litre of diesel reached a new high of 161.28p on Sunday, up from 160.85p on Saturday.

A year ago the price per litre of petrol and diesel was 124.32p and 127.25p respectively.

The cost of filling up a typical 55-litre family car with either fuel has become more than £17 more expensive over that period.

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, briefly touched $139 per barrel earlier today – its highest price since 2008 – but by 10.15am had eased back to just above $125.

Soaring fuel costs are expected to put a further squeeze on households.

The US and Europe have discussed banning imports of Russian crude, which will only heap further upwards pressure on oil prices.

Over the weekend, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington was in “very active discussions” with countries in Europe over banning imports of Russian oil.

Such a move could seriously damage the Russian economy and comes after Vladimir Putin sent his troops on a full-scale mission to invade Ukraine.

The war has led to hundreds of civilian casualties and brought nearly unequivocal condemnation from other European countries.


North-east businessman to travel four days to deliver supplies to Ukrainian refugees at the Polish border


While Europe and the US have so far resisted a ban on Russian oil, the heavy sanctions they have put on the country mean many companies are baulking at buying anything from Russia.

This has led to a widespread boycott but a total ban would dry up supplies further.

Although Europe relies a lot more on Russia for its natural gas, the country is still the biggest single exporter of oil to the EU.

According to data from Eurostat, around a quarter of the bloc’s oil imports and around 46% of its gas came from Russia in the first part of last year.

The UK is less reliant on Russia for both but prices here largely mirror those in Europe.

Sanctions have so far not hit these vital supplies which prop up the economies of both sides.