The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has criticised fuel retailers who keep petrol and diesel prices high when oil prices fall back for acting in a manner which is “really bad and wrong”.

Talking exclusively to GB News, Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP said this is an issue the government “should be focussed on”, pledging that excessively high petrol and diesel prices are “a point I’ll be raising directly” with retailers at a meeting next week.

“I think it’s really bad and wrong for companies to be keeping high petrol and diesel prices to reflect higher oil prices, but then when those oil prices come down, to keep those higher petrol and diesel prices. We should get more information about that – and it’s something we should be focused on. I will be seeing many of [the petrol retailers] next week and it’s a point I’ll raise directly with them,” said Kwarteng.

Analysis by Fair Fuel UK campaign group shows that between 3rd March and 16th March, having spiked in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, oil prices then fell 11%, from $110 to $98 per barrel (representing a 9pc sterling-denominated drop). Over the same period, Fair Fuel UK report that the average petrol price rose from £1.53 to £1.64 per litre, while diesel increased from £1.58 to £1.75, up 8pc and 11pc respectively.

Speaking ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement on Wednesday 23rd March, Kwarteng said that UK governments haven’t had “a long-term plan” for energy security “over successive years”, while revealing the government’s delayed “British Energy Security Strategy” will “be published next week”.

In an interview with Liam Halligan, Presenter of GB News show “On the Money”, Kwarteng said:

“When it comes to energy it really pays to have a long-term plan and for successive years, we haven’t had a long-term plan. If you look over the last thirty years, governments have taken quite short-term views – and this is nowhere more apparent than in our attitude to nuclear energy – which has been woeful”.

“Nuclear power gives you a measure of energy independence and security and that’s why when i speak to energy ministers from around the world it’s the French energy minister that seems somewhat more calm. The French know with their nuclear fleet they’ve got a large degree of independence whereas you contrast that with Germany or Italy, they’re much more exposed to Russian gas. I think nuclear is something we should really focus on”.

“What the Chancellor and I in our conversations have said, and the prime minister too, is that we want to protect consumers, particularly vulnerable consumers, against high energy prices. I’m sure that’s at the front of the Chancellor ‘s mind – we’ll have to wait and see where we are in the Spring Statement.

“Net zero is something we want to achieve, but how we get there and the means we use are a matter of wide debate. I’ve always been clear that gas is a transition fuel. So we can’t do what Extinction Rebellion would like us to do and simply just switch the lights off – no pun intended – on the North Sea. There’s a strong economic reason – we employ them at two hundred and fifty thousand people in the oil and gas sector here in the UK. Second, and even more importantly, that gas is our gas. It means we’re independent and not reliant on Russian or liquefied natural gas from Qatar or wherever it might come from. The North Sea is really important for our energy security and it’s also important for jobs”.

“It’s absolutely right that we should be focusing on that and yet in recent years, as the net zero agenda has come to the fore, it has been harder and harder for the oil and gas industry to get permission to develop fields in the North Sea”

“We think we should decarbonize but we should do it in a way that is realistic, in terms of affordability and security – that’s our plan. The Extinction Rebellion campaign and other eco-socialists say that we’ve got to try and rush to net zero regardless of the cost, regardless of the impact on ordinary people. That’s where i would disagree with them”

“On Wednesday this week, Cuadrilla was told very clearly that the company should apply for a 12-month extension. The CEO of the Oil and Gas Authority has said very clearly he is minded to grant an extension. But in general terms, I don’t understand how fracking would affect the global gas price because it’s a global market. And, to be frank, it’s a hugely controversial subject.”