Motorists start the new year having to pay more for fuel from today as Enemalta increased the price of petrol by 4c to €1.31 and diesel by six cents to €1.21.

The price of unleaded petrol increased from €1.27 to €1.31 while that of diesel rose from €1.15 to €1.21, Enemalta said.

Since January 2010, the price of unleaded petrol increased by a total of 21c as it was priced €1.10 a year ago. The price of diesel rose by 24c from 97c in January 2010.

As of Saturday, lead replacement petrol is no longer being sold from petrol stations.

The December petrol and diesel consignments increased in price because of the rise in international crude oil prices and higher demand due to the freezing temperatures in Europe, Enemalta said. It referred to the International Energy Agency which said last week the recent oil price spike was largely due to a rise in consumption in the third quarter of 2010 in the US and Europe.

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