LONDON, (Reuters) – The UK’s competition watchdog was asked by the government of Britain to assess the retail fuel market and determine if a lower duty rate has been applied to customers after pump prices reached unprecedented levels.

Kwasi Kwarteng, Business Secretary, stated that Sunday’s investigation will look into why the fuel prices are always so fast to go up and slow to fall.

Oil prices have risen worldwide due to Russia’s invasion Ukraine and the reopening of economies following the pandemic.

Britain has reduced its fuel duty to 5pc per litre in March, in an overall package of 5 billion pounds ($6.2 billion), in order to reduce the financial burden for motorists in an era when household costs are rising.

However, prices continue to climb and last week’s average family car fill cost was above 100 pounds, Experian data (OTC: Catalist).

Kwarteng, in a letter addressed to the Competition and Markets Authority(CMA), stated that while the package was 5 billion pounds, it does not appear that all of the forecourt price adjustments have occurred. He also said that prices in certain towns are higher than prices in other nearby areas.

According to him, the market’s health, regional factors and local competition should all be considered in any review.

His request for an initial report had to be made by July 7.

($1 = 0.8121 pounds)