The Farmers' Union of Wales today urged the Chancellor to scrap his plans for a fuel duty hike in April and demanded that the Coalition government introduces a fuel stabiliser scheme without further delay.
The current surge in inflation, plus the fuel duty rise the Chancellor is committed to introducing, will mean Welsh rural communities could see prices rise by an extra five pence per litre (ppl) or almost 23p per gallon at the pumps.
Prices for unleaded petrol across Wales are already reported to be running at £1.32ppl and up to five pence more for diesel.
"In view of the acute and growing pressure that rises in fuel prices represent for rural businesses, not to mention businesses across the UK, I believe that we have reached a critical point at which action must be taken to significantly reduce fuel tax in order to aid the economy," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.
"The union is very much in favour of an early introduction of a fuel stabiliser, where duty is cut when oil prices soar and goes up again when prices fall, as this will be much fairer on rural dwellers.
"Bearing in mind that there is a difference of as much as five pence per litre between rural and city garages in Wales already, the added fuel duty coupled with rising oil prices will be devastating to rural communities all over the UK.
"The FUW understands that nothing can be done about the soaring price of crude oil on the international market but the high level of tax imposed on fuel in the UK, compared to every other country in the world, is crippling individuals and businesses alike and threatens to strangle the life out of the rural economy.
"It is grossly unfair that we here in the UK pay far more for our fuel than any other country and the fault lies with the extortionate level of tax imposed by the Government," said Mr Vaughan.