Call to other retailers as two supermarket chains cut the price of unleaded petrol
TWO SUPERMARKET giants are cutting the price of unleaded petrol after a drop in wholesale costs.
Leeds-based Asda was the first to announce a reduction of up to 2p per litre, bringing its national price cap down to £1.14 per litre.
This was later matched by rivals Sainsbury’s and Bradfordbased Morrisons. The lower prices will be effective from today.
The cost of filling up diesel vehicles at both retailers is unchanged.
Average unleaded prices across the UK reached a six-month high of £1.19 in recent weeks, according to figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Diesel forecourt prices hit the £1.21 mark, which has not been seen since early May.
Supermarkets announced price cuts worth up to 2p per litre on September 22.
Unleaded prices shot up as a result of Hurricane Harvey disrupting oil refining in Texas, whereas diesel has become more expensive as the price of a barrel of oil has increased.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “A day after we called for a price cut it’s encouraging to see the supermarkets have responded by taking 2p off a litre of unleaded.
“Despite a similar cut in late September the conditions have been right for a further reduction for nearly two weeks so it’s a shame in the interests of price transparency this hasn’t come sooner.
“What motorists need now is for every petrol retailer, large and small, to do the same to bring down the average price from £1.19 a litre to £1.17.
“Looking at the wholesale petrol market there are good signs that prices could go lower still.”
AA fuel spokesman Luke Bosdet claimed motorists have faced a “miserable start to the autumn” with some fuel retailers “dragging their feet on price cuts as they did in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina”.
He added: “Let’s hope other retailers react quickly to bring down their prices so that drivers don’t have to rely on a postcode or supermarket lottery.”
Asda’s head of petrol trading Dave Tyrer said: “Today’s latest move shows that Asda is once again leading the way in reducing the price at the pumps.”