Applegreen’s Christmas gift of reduced fuel prices

PETROL and diesel prices will drop by as much as five cents per litre as Christmas approaches, a leading fuel retailer has announced.

Applegreen said it will lower the cost of ‘fuelgood’ petrol and diesel across all stores in the run-up to the festive season.

Prices have significantly lowered in the past month as Circle K stores offer fuel at around ten cents a litre cheaper than October figures.

With fuel previously as high as 153c a litre, the Irish Daily Mail found it could be bought for as little as 141c per litre this week. It comes a month after a fall in oil prices that prompted US president Donald Trump to tweet: ‘Oil prices getting lower, Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! Thank you Saudi Arabia, but let’s get lower!’

One month on, and though Applegreen has promised lower prices, the Mail was unable to contact other retailers to find out if the will also offer cheaper fuel for Christmas.

The crude oil price dropped below $60 a barrel last month – falling from $86 in the first week of October.

And AA director of consumer affairs Conor Faughnan told the Mail last month that fuel prices would start falling in ‘five or six weeks’ as those lower oil prices affect pumps.

Conor Lucey, Applegreen head of operations, revealed the price drop was part of the company’s commitment to ‘low fuel prices always’, adding: ‘We are delighted to help our customers’ hard-earned cash go that bit further at this time of year.’

While fuel prices vary across the country, this paper discovered the average price of petrol at various retailers is 142c per litre, while for diesel the average is 136.4c a litre.

An Applegreen spokesman said: ‘We review our prices on an ongoing basis to ensure we are as competitive as possible within the local area.’ According to price comparison site pumps.ie, the cheapest fuel can be found at the Applegreen on Gurteen Road, Boyle, Co. Roscommon.