The Government was today under increasing pressure to scrap October's planned 2p tax on a litre of fuel as the price of crude oil drove to fresh records of $135 a barrel.

Edmund King, president of the AA, is to ask Chancellor Alistair Darling to delay the rise in fuel duty and launch an inquiry into the oil refining market in the UK, amid fears that shortages of capacity are heaping further misery on motorists.

Mr King said: "Prices look like they will stay high for the medium term so we are saying to the Chancellor that he should forget any idea of adding to fuel taxes in October. Oil prices have doubled since last year and an increasing number of car owners are becoming desperate and businesses suffer from the hit on consumer spending.”

The motoring organisation said there were also fears over the UK's refining capacity. Mr King said: "The Grangemouth refinery dispute last month put a real strain on the UK's supply, which indicates that refining capacity has been reduced and we think it is something the Government should look at."

The AA, which is meeting Angela Eagle, the Treasury Minister, next month, wants the Chancellor to consider introducing a fuel- price stabiliser in the medium term to help take the sting out of oil price swings.

This would be a mechanism, similar to one used in continental countries, that would reduce fuel duty when the price of fuel is going up and increase it when the price of fuel falls.

The price of crude has risen by more than 40 per cent so far this year and British motorists have experienced an increase of 4.5p per litre in the past month to 112.6p per litre. Diesel prices have risen by a record 6.8p per litre in four weeks to 124.2p per litre.

Following a month of almost daily price rises, petrol in the UK currently costs an average of £1.13 a litre. Such steep increases in the oil price have not been seen since the Gulf War of 1991.

British motorists will see the impact of the latest increase feed through to the forecourts in the next four to six weeks. They have already experienced the highest monthly leap in diesel prices this decade.

Mr King's plea to the Chancellor comes as oil prices surged past the $135 a barrel mark today, following a warning from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that global supplies could fall short of demand over the next 20 years. The price was trading at just under $134 by lunchtime today.

Contracts for delivery in December 2015 have risen to 139.48 dollars a barrel, signalling the long-term fears that demand will outstrip global production.

The IEA, the Paris-based group that was set up during the 1970s oil crisis to monitor the oil market, is preparing a sharp downward revision to its oil-supply forecast, after a comprehensive attempt to assess the condition of the world's top 400 oil fields.

The IEA’s findings will not be released until November but early sightings suggest that future crude supplies could be far tighter than previously thought.

Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist and the leader of the study, said: “The oil investments required may be much, much higher than what people assume. This is a dangerous situation."

For several years, the IEA has predicted that supplies of crude and other liquid fuels will increase steadily to keep pace with rising demand, topping 116 million barrels a day by 2030, up from around 87 million barrels a day today.

Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, has said that there could be a major shortage of oil over the next 10 years, resulting in the price soaring to $200 a barrel.

Goldman is advising clients, including airlines and haulage groups, to buy oil supplies now for delivery in eight years, to insulate themselves from further increases.

Earlier this month the Ernst & Young Item Club said it was not unreasonable to assume prices would continue to rise over the coming years, because factors driving the increases were not going to disappear.

Hetal Mehta, the Item Club economist, said: “There is a major mismatch between supply and demand. Opec members appear unwilling or unable to raise their output whilst the thirst for oil, particularly in developing countries, appears to be unquenchable.”

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