The Office of Fair Trading has launched a review into whether reductions in the price of crude oil are being passed on to motorists.
The watchdog called for information from the industry, motoring groups and consumer bodies amid concerns over the prices charged for petrol and diesel at the pumps.
AA president Edmund King strongly welcomed the OFT's decision to investigate fuel pricing and said the move was "overdue".The OFT said it will be gathering information over the next six weeks and plans to publish its findings in January.
The UK retail road fuels sector is estimated to be worth around £32 billion, the OFT said. Petrol prices rose by 38% between June 2007 and June 2012, while diesel prices went up by 43% over the same period.
The OFT has commissioned information from all groups to decide if the public are geting a good deal on petrol
The OFT said it will explore a number of claims about how the road fuels sector is functioning, including whether supermarkets and major oil companies are making it more difficult for independent retailers to compete.
The review will also consider whether there is a lack of competition between fuel retailers in some remote communities.
Claire Hart, director in the OFT's services, infrastructure and public markets group, said: "We are keenly aware of continuing widespread concern about the pump price of petrol and diesel and we have heard a number of different claims about how the market is operating."
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We welcome the OFT's decision.
"Many motorists are concerned about fuel prices and that when crude oil prices fall, this isn't seen at the pump as quickly as consumers would like.
"We look forward with interest to the findings of the study."