A Russian fuel terminal is on fire. Diesel in the UK now costs 25p more than petrol.
Hours after Donald Trump announced a deal for Russian diesel, drones set an oil terminal in southern Russia on fire. It is the latest in a long run of strikes on Russian fuel sites, and it helps explain something every diesel driver has noticed: the gap between diesel and petrol has more than doubled since February.
Published 10 October 2026 · Fuel Finder UK team
What happened in Rostov
- The strike. Overnight on 9 to 10 October, drones hit an oil-loading terminal in Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia. A large fire broke out. Open-source analysts at the independent Russian outlet Astra matched the footage to the terminal once known as Yug Rusi.
- What the terminal does. It receives, stores and ships petroleum products from the Novoshakhtinsk refinery and other suppliers, including fuel for export by sea. Its designed capacity is put at 2.5 to 3.5 million tonnes a year. How much was damaged is not yet known.
- What Russia says. The Rostov governor, Yuriy Slyusar, confirmed an aerial attack and a fire, and said there were no casualties. He said at least 50 drones were intercepted across the region overnight.
- The timing. It came hours after Trump said Russia would supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to "the American and global marketplace". Read what that deal means for UK prices.
Why diesel is hit harder than petrol
Sources: RAC via ITV News for 28 February and 2 October. Fuel Finder UK analysis of official Fuel Finder data for 10 October, 8,382 forecourts for diesel and 8,269 for petrol.
Crude oil has gone up for everyone, which is why petrol is up too. Diesel has its own problem on top: there is not enough of it.
- Russia makes less. Russian diesel output is down almost 30% after Ukrainian strikes on its refineries, and Moscow has restricted exports, according to Forbes on 7 October.
- The Gulf ships less. Refined fuel cargoes through the Gulf are running at about half their pre-war level.
- The UK buys a lot of it in. The UK imports nearly 55% of the diesel it uses, so it pays world prices for it.
The UK has banned Russian fuel, so diesel from that terminal does not come here. But every tonne that does not reach the world market tightens supply for everyone else, including the countries the UK buys from.
What the gap looks like at the pump
At 2:50pm on 10 October 2026 we compared the diesel and petrol price at every forecourt that sells both, 8,201 of them.
- The typical gap is 25p. The average is 25.1p a litre and the middle forecourt is exactly 25.0p.
- At some it is 30p or more. 266 forecourts charge at least 30p a litre more for diesel than for petrol.
- On a tank, it adds up. Filling a 55-litre tank with diesel costs about £13.80 more than filling it with petrol. Before the war the difference was about £5.30.
Will the Russian deal close the gap?
Not quickly. Analysts have doubted that Russia can deliver the volumes Trump announced, given the damage to its refineries, and strikes like the one in Rostov make that harder. The G7's emergency diesel release, agreed on 2 October, has not moved the UK average either: diesel was 200.0p that day and 199.9p today. Read what the G7 release was meant to do.
What drivers can control is where they fill up. Some brands are cutting while others are raising: read this week's diesel moves by brand.
- Find the cheapest diesel near you. Every forecourt, cheapest first, from the official data every 30 minutes.
- See both fuels at once. Switch between diesel and petrol and see the price at every station on the map.
- Hear when it drops. On iPhone and iPad, Price Drop Alerts tell you when a favourite forecourt cuts its price.
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How we counted
The 28 February and 2 October figures are the RAC's UK averages, as reported by ITV News. The RAC gave petrol on 2 October as 174.71p, up 41.9p since the war began, which puts it at 132.81p before the war. The 10 October figures are from the official Fuel Finder data at 2:50pm: standard diesel (B7) and E10 unleaded, for forecourts with a price between 100p and 300p. The gap at each forecourt uses only forecourts that sell both.
The limits: the RAC and Fuel Finder averages are worked out differently, so compare the size of the gap, not the exact pence. Damage at the Rostov terminal is not confirmed beyond the governor's statement and the footage.
Sources
- Kyiv Post: Ukrainian drones strike major Rostov oil hub, 10 October 2026
- Defence Matters: Ukrainian drone strike sets Rostov oil terminal ablaze, 10 October 2026
- Al Jazeera: Hours after Trump-Putin diesel deal, Ukraine strikes Russian fuel site, 10 October 2026
- Al Jazeera: Trump announces Russian diesel deal, 9 October 2026
- Forbes: Oil is flowing again, but gasoline and diesel prices aren't cooperating, 7 October 2026
- ITV News: Average UK diesel price passes £2 for first time, 2 October 2026