Petrol ‘to fall by £10 a tank in weeks’

THE cost of filling up a car is set to be £10 cheaper within a fortnight as spiralling petrol and diesel prices finally begin to come down.

Motoring group AA said the price of petrol had dropped by 2.8p a litre from record highs, knocking £1.50 off the price of a tank.

Drivers are likely to fork out £10 less a tank in the coming weeks as wholesale prices continue to fall. Wholesale petrol peaked above £1 a litre on Jun 1 but fell below 80p a litre last week. That indicates a fall of as much as a 20p a litre at the pump within two weeks.

Luke Bosdet, at the AA, said: “Wholesale petrol’s trajectory, if sustained, would lead to savings from the record highs – providing the fuel trade is prepared to pass them on. The problem is that, in many places, the price cuts are not happening despite more than six weeks of falling costs.” The competition watchdog said its preliminary findings suggested oil refineries were largely to blame for the gap in prices.

Petrol now costs on average 188.76p a litre and diesel 196.96p. This compares to 191.53p and 199.07p respectively at the start of July. Oil prices have dropped back as fears about recession lead to concerns of lower demand.