For decades, the UK fuel market has been notoriously opaque. Drivers have had to rely on big roadside totem poles and word-of-mouth to find out who was charging what. Today, that all changes. We are thrilled to announce that findpetrol.co.uk is now directly integrated with the official Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Open Data Scheme.
The Problem With Fuel Pricing
In 2023, a landmark government report by the CMA confirmed what most UK drivers already knew: consumers were being overcharged at the pumps. Supermarkets and major retailers had significantly increased their profit margins on fuel, largely because drivers had no easy way to compare prices instantly.
If you were driving through Leeds or commuting around London, the only way to find the cheapest unleaded or diesel was to physically drive past multiple forecourts—burning the very fuel you were trying to save.
Enter the CMA Open Data Scheme
To force competition back into the market, the government introduced a voluntary open data scheme. Major retailers are now required to publish their live pump prices in a standardized API (Application Programming Interface) format. By law, they must update these digital feeds within 30 minutes of changing the physical price on their forecourt tills.
What This Means For You
By wiring our backend directly into these official government-backed API endpoints, we've stripped away the guesswork. When you use findpetrol.co.uk, you are looking at raw, unfiltered data straight from the source.
- Live Accuracy: You see what the till sees. No outdated historic averages.
- Major Brands Covered: The feed currently includes Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, BP, Shell, Esso, Applegreen, and MFG. You can read more on our Data Sources page.
- Zero Cost: We aggregate thousands of data points daily and present them to you on a beautiful, easy-to-read map—completely free of charge.
Taking It One Step Further: Community Power
While the CMA scheme is a massive victory for consumer transparency, it isn't perfect yet. It relies on a 30-minute delay, and many small independent stations haven't adopted the technology.
That is why we built our custom Community Override System. If the API lags, or if you spot a cheap independent station near Manchester that isn't on the official feed, you can manually submit the correct price on our platform. Your submission instantly updates the map for thousands of other local drivers, ensuring our data is actually faster than the government's official feeds.
The Road Ahead
We believe that transparent data forces retailers to drop their prices to stay competitive. By giving you the tools to find the cheapest fuel instantly, we are putting the power back into the hands of the UK driver. Check the live prices in your area today and never overpay for fuel again.