1p on petrol as war fears grow

SHELL and Tesco put up petrol prices by 1p a litre today amid fears of a war in Iraq. The increase came hours after analysts warned that with oil prices racing past $24 a barrel on Monday, before falling 41 cents to $23.48 today - a $4 jump in less than two weeks - motorists should brace themselves for rises of up to 2p a litre.

The new recommended minimum price of Shell unleaded petrol is now 70.9p per litre and Tesco unleaded rises to 70.7p per litre. Other major fuel firms are also expected to increase their forecourt prices.

Esso said it, too, was increasing the price of unleaded by between 1p and 2p per litre - but only at filling stations that had been charging 'lower' rates of between 69p and 70p. Although the company was not imposing a nationwide price increase, the move takes the typical forecourt cost of Esso petrol to between 70.9p and 71.9p per litre, the Esso spokesman said. 'We will continue our daily PriceWatch monitoring to ensure that we remain true to our pledge of competitive local prices,' he added.

A spokesman for Texaco said: 'We have no immediate plans to increase the price at the pump. We do not operate a national pricing policy - we try to adjust prices on a site-by-site basis.'

A BP spokesman said the company was 'still monitoring the situation'. A Shell spokeswoman said: 'In reaction to the upward price move both in crude and refined products we have increased the minimum recommended price for unleaded.'