Road fuel market study

The CMA has launched a market study into the supply of road fuel in the United Kingdom.

Administrative timetable

Date Action
7 July 2023 Statutory deadline for publishing market study report
3 July 2023 Publication of final report
7 January 2023 Statutory deadline for publishing notice regarding decision on whether to make a market investigation reference
6 December 2022 Publication of initial update report
1 August 2022 Deadline for responses to the invitation to comment
8 July 2022 Launch of market study

Contact

Email: RoadFuels@cma.gov.uk

Road fuel interim reports

Read our road fuel interim reports.

CMA response to DESNZ’s consultation on boosting competition in the road fuel market

28 March 2024: The CMA has published its response to Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) consultation on an open data scheme and ongoing monitoring function for road fuel prices.

Open letter from Sarah Cardell to stakeholders in the road fuel sector

10 August 2023: The CMA has written an open letter detailing the temporary voluntary scheme for major retailers to make available their daily prices, by the end of August.

Letter from Sarah Cardell to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

19 July 2023: The CMA has written to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero following our recommendation to government to develop a statutory fuel finder scheme.

Final report

3 July 2023: The CMA has published the final report on its road fuel market study, setting out its findings and its recommendations in response to those findings.

Penalty notices

3 July 2023: The CMA has published two notices (served 20 June 2023) imposing penalties on Asda Group Limited (‘Asda’) under section 174A of the Enterprise Act 2002 (‘the Act’). The CMA imposed the penalties for failures to comply, without reasonable excuse, with the requirements imposed on Asda for notices issued by the CMA under section 174 of the Act.

Responses to the initial update report

3 July 2023: The CMA has published responses to its 6 December 2022 initial update report.

Update

29 June 2023: The CMA intends to publish its final road fuel market study report on Monday 3 July. The final report will be available on this case page once published.

15 May 2023: The CMA has published an update on the road fuel market study, as part of a wider update on the action it is taking to help contain cost of living pressures.

Initial update report

6 December 2022: The CMA has published its initial update report on its road fuel market study. It invites responses on this by 6 January 2023.

Decision not to make a reference

6 December 2022: The CMA has decided not to make a market investigation reference. This should not in any way be interpreted as the CMA finding no concerns in the sector, only that based on our current state of knowledge any potential concerns identified to date would not be best addressed through a market investigation at this time.

Responses to Invitation to Comment

6 December 2022: The CMA has published responses to its Invitation to Comment on its road fuel market study.

Launch of market study

8 July 2022: The CMA has launched a market study into the supply of road fuel in the UK.

We are inviting comments by 1 August 2022 on the issues raised in the invitation to comment.

Personal Information

The CMA may collect, use and share personal data for its market studies under the Enterprise Act 2002. This includes processing personal data for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

For more information about how the CMA handles personal information, see the CMA’s Personal Information Charter.

Published 8 July 2022
Last updated 28 March 2024 + show all updates
  1. CMA response to DESNZ consultation published.

  2. Open letter to stakeholders in the road fuel sector published.

  3. Letter from Sarah Cardell to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero published

  4. Final report, penalty notices and responses to the initial update report published.

  5. Scheduling update published

  6. Link to the CMA's update on action to help contain cost of living pressures added to the page.

  7. Initial update report, decision not to make a reference and third party responses published.

  8. Administrative timetable updated.

  9. First published.