Supermarkets spark Bank Holiday petrol price war by slashing costs
Britain’s leading supermarkets have fired the latest salvo in a fuel price war after slashing prices at their pumps today in a bid to win over customers ahead of the Bank Holiday.
Asda was the first to take action, announcing that it would cut the cost of petrol by up to two pence per litre and by one pence a litre on diesel across its 234 forecourts. Customers will pay no more than 124.7ppl on petrol and 128.7ppl on diesel.
Supermarket rivals Tesco and Sainsbury’s followed suit with pledges to cut their diesel and petrol prices by the same amount from today.
Morrisons was the only one of the big four not to lower its prices. The grocer’s director of retail petrol Mark Todd, said: “[We] will be evaluating our pricing levels to ensure we remain competitive.”
Data from analysis firm Experian Catalist showed the average UK price of petrol fell to 129.71p a litre this weekend, while diesel cost 133.74p – its lowest since mid-February 2011.
The fall in pump prices come after a steady decline in oil prices since the middle of June, when concerns over the violence in Iraq sent the benchmark Brent crude index soaring to a nine-month high of $113 a barrel.
Brent crude oil fell to its lowest price in over a year yesterday as concerns subsided and as higher Libyan oil output added to already ample supplies.
Roadside rescue firm AA’s head of public affairs Paul Watters said: “Much will be made of the lower price of oil, although partially offset by a slightly weaker pound. However, depressed demand is also a major influence as families in the UK, Europe and the US continue to struggle with finances. Although pump price movements have been relatively benign this year, the trauma of price spikes from 2011 into 2013 continues to haunt drivers.”
“We’ve been calling for petrol and diesel prices to fall for some time following the decrease in wholesale prices and so this is a welcome move from Asda,” said RAC’s Pete Williams.
“Earlier this year, the wholesale price of unleaded petrol fell below the 100p per litre price for the first time in three and a half years, demonstrating how much fluctuation there has been in the global fuel market.”