The Fuel Finder scheme explained: where UK fuel price data comes from

Every station price on PetrolNearby comes from Fuel Finder, the UK Government's open data scheme for road fuel prices. Since 2 February 2026, filling stations that sell petrol or diesel to the public have had to report price changes within 30 minutes. That data is then published so that apps, satnavs and comparison sites can show it to drivers.

It is a big step forward from the days of driving past three forecourts to compare signs. It is not perfect, though, and knowing how the data flows helps you judge when a price on your screen is likely to match the pump.

What Fuel Finder is

Fuel Finder is a statutory scheme, which means taking part is a legal requirement rather than a choice. It grew out of a 2023 study of the road fuel market by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which recommended an open data scheme so that drivers could compare prices easily. It replaced an earlier voluntary arrangement under which some larger retailers published their own price feeds.

The rules are set out in the Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025. The service is operated by VE3 Global Limited on behalf of the government, and the CMA has powers to investigate and take enforcement action when forecourts do not comply.

Who has to report, and what they report

According to GOV.UK guidance, the duty applies to operators of petrol stations of any size in the UK that sell petrol or diesel to the public. That includes:

independent forecourts and large chains, including franchised sites;
unmanned or automated stations;
businesses that sell fuel as part of something else, such as a garage;
multi-site operators, who must register each site individually.

Some sellers are outside the scheme. You will not find a business in the data if it only sells fuel business-to-business, only sells fuel in jerry cans, only sells red diesel for agricultural use, or runs an HGV depot supplying pre-arranged customers.

Stations report the prices of the fuels they sell, along with forecourt details. The published data covers the main grades, such as E10 and E5 petrol and standard and premium diesel, plus information like the station's brand, address, location, opening hours, amenities and any temporary closure.

The 30-minute rule

The heart of the scheme is timing. When a forecourt changes a price, it must submit the new price to Fuel Finder within 30 minutes. Registration had to be completed before reporting began on 2 February 2026.

Thirty minutes is quick by historical standards, but it is not instant. A station that changes its price at 8:00 can legally report it at 8:29. If you look at an app at 8:15, you may be seeing the old price, even though everyone is following the rules.

How a price gets from the forecourt to your screen

The government publishes the data in two main ways: an API for apps and websites, which carries updates through the day, and a downloadable file that is refreshed twice a day for anyone who wants a periodic snapshot. The data is published for comparison sites and app developers under the Open Government Licence.

Here is the journey a price change takes before you see it on PetrolNearby:

The forecourt changes the price on its pumps and signs.
The operator reports the new price to Fuel Finder, which it must do within 30 minutes.
Fuel Finder makes the update available to registered apps and sites.
PetrolNearby checks for new prices every 15 minutes and updates its station data.
You see the price, along with the time the station reported it.

Put those steps together and a brand-new change can take the best part of an hour to appear, even when the station reports on time. Most stations do not change their prices every hour, so this gap only matters when a station has just made a change. It matters most on days when wholesale prices are moving quickly and many stations are adjusting at once.

Two different times: "price reported" and "feed checked"

PetrolNearby keeps two kinds of time separate, because they answer different questions.

Time	What it tells you	What an old value means
Price reported	When the station reported this price to Fuel Finder	Usually nothing worrying: the station simply has not changed its price
Feed checked	When PetrolNearby last fetched data successfully	Our updates may have stalled, so newer prices may exist

A price reported several days ago is not necessarily out of date. Plenty of stations hold a price for days or weeks, and an unchanged price will keep its original report time. The report time tells you how long the station has been charging that price, not whether it is still accurate.

The feed check time is about us. If it ever falls behind, it means PetrolNearby has not been able to collect new data recently. When that happens we keep showing the last complete set of prices, with the time it was collected, rather than replacing it with a partial or empty set. If an update looks incomplete, for example because a large number of stations suddenly disappear from it, we hold on to the last complete snapshot instead of publishing the gap.

What you can rely on, and what you cannot

Fuel Finder has made comparing prices far more practical, but it helps to be clear about its limits.

What you can rely on

The source. Prices come from the stations themselves, under a legal duty to report changes quickly.
Coverage. On 11 October 2026 PetrolNearby was tracking 8,131 stations, with an E10 price available at 7,737 of them.
Transparency. Each price carries the time it was reported, so you can see how fresh it is.
Consistency. Every station is reporting into the same system, so you are comparing like with like.

What you cannot rely on

That the pump matches the screen. The price displayed on the pump is the price you will pay. An app price, however recent, is information rather than an offer the forecourt has to honour.
That every price is correct. Reported prices are only as accurate as what each station submits.
That fuel is in stock. A listed price does not guarantee a particular grade is available when you arrive.
That a station is open right now. Opening hours and closures are reported too, but plans change at short notice.

Why reported prices are occasionally wrong

With thousands of forecourts reporting, a small number of errors is inevitable. The common causes are easy to understand.

Timing. The station has changed its price but is still inside its 30-minute reporting window, or the change has not yet reached us.
Typing mistakes. A digit slips or two digits swap, so 174.9p becomes 147.9p. These tend to stand out because the price looks far cheaper or dearer than everything nearby.
System problems. A retailer's pricing system fails to send an update, so the pumps change but the report does not.
Wrong grade. A price is attached to the wrong fuel, such as a super unleaded price appearing against E10.
Station changes. A forecourt closes temporarily, stops selling a fuel, or changes hands, and the details lag behind.

A useful rule of thumb: if one station is far cheaper than every other station around it, check its report time and treat it with some caution until you have seen the pump. On 11 October 2026 most E10 prices in the UK sat between 169.9p and 179.9p, so a single local price well outside the local pattern deserves a second look.

What to do if the pump price is different

If you arrive and the price on the pump is not the one you saw on PetrolNearby, here is what to do.

Go by the pump. That is the price you will be charged. If it is higher than you expected, you are free to drive on.
Check the report time. If the price was reported recently, the station may simply have changed it again. If it is days old, the report may have been missed.
Report it to Fuel Finder. GOV.UK has a service for reporting an error in fuel prices or forecourt details shown in apps and websites that use Fuel Finder data. You can report anonymously.

When you report, GOV.UK asks for the forecourt's name and address or postcode, the date and time you noticed the problem, what is wrong, and where you saw the information. Photos or screenshots are optional but helpful. Reports may be shared with the forecourt operator or local Trading Standards, and the CMA may take enforcement action if forecourts repeatedly report late or inaccurately.

How PetrolNearby uses Fuel Finder

PetrolNearby is a free site and app built on Fuel Finder data. Here is what we do with it:

Check every 15 minutes. We look for new prices four times an hour and update stations as changes come in.
Show report times. Every station price shows when it was reported, so you can judge freshness for yourself.
Keep a history of price changes. We record each change a station reports, which lets us show how prices have moved rather than just where they stand today.
Work out averages. We calculate UK and regional averages from the stations reporting each fuel, which you can see on the UK fuel prices page and the price charts.

You can search for stations near you or browse fuel prices by town. On 11 October 2026 the UK average for E10 petrol across reporting stations was 174.7p a litre, with prices ranging from 157.9p to 209.9p. Diesel averaged 199.8p, with a range of 168.9p to 234.9p. A spread that wide is exactly why it pays to compare.

Fuel Finder versus the government's weekly price survey

You may see slightly different UK averages quoted in different places. That is usually because they come from different sources.

Fuel Finder gives a live, station-by-station picture. The government's long-running weekly road fuel price survey, published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, is a separate set of official statistics with figures going back to 2003. It produces one national average for petrol and one for diesel each week.

The two tell a similar story. In the week of 5 October 2026, the weekly survey put petrol at 174.88p and diesel at 199.52p. PetrolNearby's averages from Fuel Finder on 11 October were 174.7p for E10 and 199.8p for diesel. The small differences come from timing and method rather than one being wrong. We use the weekly survey for long-term history, covered in UK fuel prices since 2003, and Fuel Finder for today's prices.

Getting the most from the data

Live prices are most useful when you combine them with a little judgement.

Compare a few stations on your route rather than chasing the single cheapest one miles away.
Look at the report time when a price looks unusually low.
Supermarket forecourts are frequently among the cheaper options in an area, but not always; supermarket vs branded fuel looks at the differences.
On long journeys, check prices before you reach the motorway; motorway fuel prices explains why.
Track what you actually spend in the free PetrolNearby logbook.

For more on what sits behind each price, including tax and wholesale costs, see how UK fuel prices are set and fuel duty and VAT explained.

Frequently asked questions

Do all UK petrol stations have to report their prices?

Operators of petrol stations of any size that sell petrol or diesel to the public must report, including chains, independents, unmanned sites and garages that sell fuel. Businesses that only sell to other businesses, only sell fuel in jerry cans, only sell agricultural red diesel, or run HGV depots for pre-arranged customers are excluded.

How quickly do stations have to report a price change?

Within 30 minutes of the change. PetrolNearby then checks for new prices every 15 minutes, so a brand-new change can take a little while to appear even when the station reports on time.

Why is the price on the pump different from the app?

Usually because the station has changed its price very recently, or because its report was missed or entered incorrectly. The pump price is the one you pay. If the difference looks like an error rather than a recent change, you can report it through the GOV.UK Fuel Finder error reporting service.

What does an old "price reported" time mean?

Usually just that the station has not changed its price since then. Prices can stay the same for days or weeks. It is the time PetrolNearby last checked the feed that shows whether our data is current.

Is Fuel Finder data free to use?

The government publishes it for apps, satnavs and comparison sites under the Open Government Licence, and PetrolNearby is free for drivers to use on the web and in the app.