In a short 60 days since I posted the first forecast for 2011 the cost of unleaded fuel has jumped by 5% while Brent crude is up by 17% with no end to these rises in sight.  This has been impacted by the many events that are taking place in North Africa, coupled with a rise in fuel duty in the UK and strong demand for fuel from developing nations. 

This chart shows the cost of unleaded fuel, the USD cost of Brent Crude and a forecast for the unleaded fuel.

The worrying thing about this trend is that we seem to be racing towards the levels forecasted for the end of 2011 and may well reach them by the middle of the year.