<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/fuel-prices/" target="_blank">Fuel prices</a> in the UK have hit record-high levels, new figures show, after <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/05/31/eu-leaders-agree-to-phase-out-russian-gas-with-pipeline-imports-exempt/" target="_blank">the EU announced a ban on Russian oil imports.</a> The average petrol price rose to 173.02p a litre, according to figures released by the RAC on Tuesday. The average cost of diesel sat at 182.58p a litre, around its record high. The increase means it will cost more than £95 to fill a standard 55-litre car tank with petrol and more than £100 to fill up with diesel. Drivers across Britain are set to be hit by a further squeeze to their wallets as the war in Ukraine continues to cause ripple effects across Europe. Prices of fuel have, over the past year, been rising as the UK economy got back on track following coronavirus lockdowns. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has piled upwards pressure on prices, adding to the woes of millions of Britons hit by <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/05/25/uks-rishi-sunak-set-to-help-poorest-in-cost-of-living-crisis/" target="_blank">the cost-of-living crisis.</a> The increase in petrol and diesel prices in the UK came after the EU announced a deal to ban imports of Russian oil, part of the bloc’s effort to strip Moscow of finances for its military operations in Ukraine. EU leaders on Monday agreed to cut 90 per cent of oil imports from Russia by the end of the year. The remaining 10 per cent will be temporarily exempt from the embargo so that <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/hungary/" target="_blank">Hungary</a>, Slovakia and the Czech Republic can retain access to Russian oil. The deal was agreed during a leaders’ summit in Brussels, where members took into account <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/05/30/eu-leaders-face-russian-oil-deadlock-as-hungary-digs-in/" target="_blank">objections from Hungary</a>. The landlocked country had been blocking the embargo as it sought assurances that its energy supplies would not be disrupted. Russia is the world’s largest oil producer after the US and Saudi Arabia.
