Unleaded petrol prices to top diesel as Harvey hits US fuel output - RAC

This would also mean that the average price of a litre of unleaded surpasses that of diesel.

RAC spokesman Pete Williams said: "The average price of a litre of unleaded on Thursday 31 August was 117.29p and diesel was 118.14p but we could see unleaded rise in the coming days to around 121p a litre, with diesel likely to stay stable around 118.5p.

"This will be the first time unleaded has been higher than diesel since June 2016 and we expect this to be the case for some time to come, or at least until the US oil industry is able to get refineries back into operation and production in the Gulf Coast returns to normal - to meet the United States’ immense appetite for gasoline.

"One quarter of the refining capacity in the States remains offline leaving a shortfall of over four billion barrels a day, and crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is down 13.5%. In response, oil traders are acting to redirect fuel to the US ahead of the busy Labor Day weekend surge in travel."

Since it came ashore last Friday near Rockport on the Gulf of Mexico coat, Hurricane Harvey- which has been downgraded to a tropical depression - has paralysed more than a quarter of the US refining industry and killed at least 48 people in Texas.