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LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Britain's consumer affairswatchdog said competition in the UK petrol and diesel market was"working well" and there was little evidence that pump pricesrise quickly when the wholesale price goes up but fall moreslowly when it drops.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said on Wednesday that rises in pump prices for petrol and diesel over the last decadehad been caused largely by higher crude oil prices and increasesin tax and duty, and not a lack of competition.
"The evidence gathered by the OFT suggests that at nationallevel competition is working well in the UK road fuel sector,"the OFT report said, adding that it found "very limited evidence... that pump prices rise quickly when the wholesale price goesup but fall more slowly when it drops."
The OFT last year launched a fact-finding exercise, seekinginformation from industry and consumer groups on whether pricespaid at the pump were a fair reflection of underlying costs.
Leading petrol retailers in Britain include BP,ExxonMobil, and Shell, as well as supermarketslike Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
The OFT said Britain had some of the cheapest road fuelprices in Europe, noting that in the 10 years to 2012 pumpprices increased from 76 pence per litre (ppl) to 136 ppl forpetrol, and from 78 ppl to 142 ppl for diesel, caused largely byan increase of nearly 24 ppl in tax and duty and 33 ppl in thecost of crude oil.
The watchdog, however, did identify a lack of pricinginformation on motorways as a concern and said it would not ruleout taking action in some local markets if there was "persuasiveevidence" of anti-competitive behaviour.
Angus Elphinstone, founder of delivery website Anyvan, saidthe OFT's investigation would leave British motorists andbusinesses "with the feeling that they've been short-changed yetagain"
